30 July 2013
A Leicester doctor has been fined £2,700 and ordered to pay over £30,000 court costs after admitting to performing circumcisions without being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Dr Hassan Abdulla, aged 62, who worked at the Al-Khalill Clinic in Conway Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to carrying out the operations on young boys without CQC registration, between October 2011 and January 2012.
The hearing at Leicester Magistrates Court, yesterday (Monday, 29 July), was told Dr Abdulla continued to carry out the operations on children after CQC rejected his application to be registered.
Healthcare services are required to be registered with CQC so they can be subject to regulation and that people know whether these are meeting national standards of quality and safety.
In bringing the prosecution CQC carried out two visits to Dr Abdulla’s premises. The court heard what was found would not have met the national standards of quality and safety.
Infection control practices were inadequate, equipment being used was out of date and staff were not appropriately trained. Five of the children Dr Abdulla carried out the procedure on suffered complications and required further medical treatment.
Following the hearing, Fiona Allinson, compliance manager for the CQC, said: “This sends a clear message to any healthcare professionals that they not only need to ensure they are registered with CQC but we will take action against those who fail to do so.
“CQC was first alerted to the fact Dr Abdulla was providing the service without registration through information from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the local community. We would like to thank all these people for their help in bringing this case.
“By not being registered providers of care put people at risk as it is not possible for CQC to assess the quality of service being offered.”
CQC wrote to Dr Abdulla when his application had been refused and spoke to him by telephone.
Dr Abdulla entered a guilty plea to six counts of carrying out operations on children on the basis that he should have known he could not provide the service without being registered with CQC but that he was unaware his initial application had been rejected.
He was fined £450 for each of the charges and ordered to pay £30,099.80 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Ends
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