A GP who convinced a patient to share his fungal toenail medication with him was suspended for a year.

Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel chairman Prof Denis McDevitt told Dr Zulfiqar Ali the ban would ‘mark the seriousness of the incident’ and ‘make clear that misconduct of this nature is unacceptable’.

MORE TOP STORIES:

“The panel has determined to suspend your registration for a period of 12 months, which will send a robust message to you, to the wider medical profession and to the public about the standards of conduct and behaviour expected of registered medical practitioners,” he said.

“This is the maximum sanction available to the panel, short of erasing your name from the medical register, and marks the seriousness with which your misconduct is viewed.”

The hearing was told that Dr Ali wrote his patient an excessive four-month prescription for the tablets after finding out they had a similar medical condition on 26 March last year.

The man, referred to as Patient A, did not have to pay for prescriptions and agreed to give the doctor six of the eight boxes of pills, the service heard.

Dr Ali then changed his medical records, repeatedly lied and even sent the patient’s estranged brother to his home to get him to change his story in an attempt to cover up the scam, the hearing was told.

The GP was sacked from St Georges Surgery, in Blackburn, following a disciplinary hearing on June 7, 2013.

Dr Ali has worked as a locum at the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust since last August.

He can continue to practise until the ban takes effect in 28 days, but will have to attend a review hearing towards the end of the suspension before he can return to work.

Prof McDevitt added: “The panel does not consider that there is evidence of harmful, deep-seated personality or attitudinal problems which would prevent you from developing your insight further.

“It is of the opinion that these proceedings will serve as a salutary lesson and will provide a helpful focus for your reflections, particularly upon the distress that you have caused to Patient A and the impact of your actions on public confidence in the medical profession.

“Therefore, in all the circumstances of this case, the panel has determined that a period of suspension is the necessary, appropriate and proportionate sanction.”