Fake radiologist given jail term

A woman who forged her CV to get a job as an NHS radiologist has been jailed for a year.

Teesside Crown Court heard Martha Kirkwood-Rhinds, 27, started working for South Tees NHS Trust after falsely claiming a degree and qualification.

Kirkwood-Rhinds, of Norton, Stockton, pleaded guilty to obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception and three counts of using a false instrument.

She was prosecuted after an inquiry into staff expenses.

People like Kirkwood-Rhinds not only deprive the NHS of much-needed resources but also put patients and the public at risk Jim Gee, NHS Counter Fraud Service

It found she had not completed a degree course at Bradford University and had wrongly claimed to be a member of the Health Professionals Council.

She had failed a BSc in diagnostic radiography in the second year but had forged documents to prove she passed her second and third years.

An anti-fraud team also found she had made fraudulent applications for wages of almost £40,000 between July 2003 and July 2004, when she was dismissed for gross misconduct.

Speaking after the case, Jim Gee, chief executive of the NHS Counter Fraud Service, said: "The success of this case is an example of our increasingly close relationships with organisations such as the Health Professionals Council.

"It shows that you cannot commit serious crimes like these and hope to get away with it.

"People like Kirkwood-Rhinds not only deprive the NHS of much-needed resources but also put patients and the public at risk."