Doctor who sold stolen PPE on eBay is struck off register

An NHS doctor who sold stolen PPE on eBay during the Covid pandemic has been struck off the medical register after a hearing.

Dr Attiya Sheikh, 46, and her husband Omer Sheikh, 48, made almost £8,000 from selling personal protective equipment as the virus was spreading throughout the UK in 2020.

A hearing earlier this week by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled her fitness to practice was impaired and she should be struck off.

The two-day MPTS hearing saw the doctor's actions described as having "seriously departed from the fundamental tenets of the profession" while showing a "reckless disregard for patient safety and professional standards".

The tribunal outcome stated Dr Sheikh's reflections on what she had done "appeared to lack depth" and it had taken probing questions for her to show regret.

The report concluded that she posed a high, current and ongoing risk to all three limbs of public protection, namely protecting the health and safety of the public, maintaining public confidence in the profession and upholding proper professional standards.

The hearing concluded that erasure from the medical register was the only suitable option, given that her behaviour was "fundamentally incompatible with her continued registration as a doctor."

It said the interests of Dr Sheikh - who is now prohibited from working anywhere that requires registration with the General Medical Council - were outweighed by the need to protect the public, including the need "to maintain the reputation of the profession as a whole."

The ruling will take effect once the period to allow appeals has ended.

'Unaware' of PPE shortage

Sheikh and her husband previously admitted to selling stolen gloves, face masks and wipes online at a time when the NHS was struggling to get hold of them.

During the MPTS hearing, the doctor said she had been told to enter a guilty plea by her legal team.

She said when she bought the goods to sell on that she had no idea they were stolen, and the reason she sold them online was because "the person who supplied them had told her that this was what she should do."

She added she was unaware of the shortage in PPE across the country at the time.

Her claim that she had committed a "one-off mistake" was knocked back by the tribunal, who observed she had been selling the items from May to October 2020.

The couple's actions were discovered when NHS Scotland supplier Fannin spotted its products for sale on the auction website eBay.

NHS Scotland counter fraud services then began looking into the potential theft and resale of PPE - an investigation that identified four separate eBay accounts selling items such as gloves and wipes that were connected to the Sheikhs.

The couple's house in Thornliebank in Glasgow was searched in October 2020.

Omer Sheikh was in the house during the search and directed investigators to the attic, where 121 boxes of rubber gloves were discovered, as well as a box of face masks.

The Sheikhs had been selling them online for £15 to £20 a box.

During the trial, Attiya Sheikh's lawyer said she took full responsibility for what had happened.