A plastic surgeon has been suspended for 12 months after working unregistered at a private Harley Street clinic and lying to inspectors about it.
The General Medical Council (GMC) said Dr Sayed Mia’s conduct amounted to misconduct but stopped short of striking him off the medical register. The doctor gave Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors a fake name and contact details and told them he was a patient during a visit in November 2023.
He then failed to mention his time at the clinic when applying for a job at Manchester Private Hospital, according to a GMC report.
Dr Mia, originally from South Africa, said he lied to inspectors because he feared being deported and thought they were from his ex-employer and had come to intimidate him. He also said he never considered his time at the clinic as employment because he never signed a contract and had not been paid.
The GMC said Mr Mia deliberately lied to inspectors so he could avoid an investigation and feared the impact one would have on a separate GMC probe he faced from an unrelated complaint.
It said he continued to provide inaccurate information to the authorities even after revealing who he was and did later receive payment for his work at the clinic. They also determined Dr Mia considered the private clinic “a regular place of employment”.
The report read: “Dr Mia had failed to act honestly and with integrity and showed a deliberate disregard for professional standards. The Tribunal also determined that, given the self-preservation aspect of this case, Dr Mia had disregarded patient safety and put his own interests before those of his patients.”
Inspectors visited the clinic, which has not been named but is listed in the report as being located at 41 Harley Street, on November 14, 2023, following complaints from members of the public that operations were being carried out without CQC registration.
Dr Mia was at the clinic consulting a patient when four inspectors arrived. Two entered the consultation room and introduced themselves, brandishing their CQC identification cards.
When they moved the patient into a waiting room, Dr Mia made a break for the lift with his suitcase in tow. He was stopped and told an inspector his name was Ahmed Munda and provided a telephone number and three email addresses.
The inspector said Dr Mia “appeared nervous and eager to leave” and pushed the lift button numerous times. When asked what he was doing at the clinic, Dr Mia said he was having a meeting about a procedure and was a patient.
At this point, Dr Mia’s patient interrupted and told inspectors the South African was the doctor he had come to see. Dr Mia replied: “I’m a doctor, but a scientist not a medical doctor.” He then left the clinic.
Inspectors later identified Dr Mia using open-source research and called him on December 6, 2023, to arrange a witness statement.
The doctor apologised for giving a false name and said he thought the inspectors were from his ex-employer. He then said he had only worked at the clinic for that one day.
Records show he had been there since October and carried out procedures on eight patients. Dr Mia carries out liposuction and male breast reduction procedures.
The GMC was already investigating the doctor for an unrelated clinical complaint from his work at a separate clinic and contacted Manchester Private Hospital to speak to the responsible officer. The watchdog discovered Dr Mia omitted his time at the clinic in a declaration of concerns form for the hospital dated January 3, 2024.
The watchdog stopped short of erasure saying Dr Mia had fully engaged with the regulatory process and expressed remorse. Dr Mia, who is now working in South Africa, has 28 days to appeal the decision.
