'Road rage' doctor struck off after lying on NHS form

Dr Shah Ali has been struck off the medical register after falsely claiming he was not subject to any fitness to practise investigations

A doctor who lied about an ongoing investigation into him on an NHS form, after striking an elderly dog walker with his car in a "road rage" incident, has been struck off the medical register.

Dr Shah Ali was convicted of dangerous driving in 2019 after hitting an 84-year-old man with the wing mirror of his car at a park in Birmingham.

Despite an investigation by the General Medical Council (GMC), Dr Ali applied for a back-to-work programme during the pandemic and stated on his form that he was not subject to any fitness to practise investigations.

The tribunal determined the appropriate sanction for Dr Ali's actions was erasure from the medical register, telling him that he had 28 days to appeal the decision.

'Clear case of road rage'

Dr Ali was convicted of dangerous driving at Birmingham Crown Court on 12 December 2019.

The court heard that on 22 August 2018, Dr Ali was behind the wheel of his vehicle in the car park of Highbury Park in Moseley, when the car ended up nose to nose with the car of the victim, known as Mr P, on an access road.

The court was told that Dr Ali lost control of his temper when Mr P's vehicle did not move, despite Dr Ali gesturing that he should.

The judge described the incident as "a clear case of road rage", detailing how Dr Ali shouted "absolutely disgusting" language at Mr P when he got out of his car.

After Mr P got out of his car to pacify his dog, who was yelping in the back, the court heard that Dr Ali drove his vehicle in a curve as if to drive around Mr P's car, before changing angle so he could side wipe Mr P.

The doctor's wing mirror struck the 84-year-old, who fell to the ground and suffered relatively minor injuries.

Dr Ali pleaded not guilty at Birmingham Crown Court, but was found guilty of dangerous driving and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment suspended for 24 months, as well as 180 hours of unpaid work, a financial penalty, and a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Covid-19 pandemic

During the pandemic, NHS Improvement England implemented a Bringing Back Staff programme.

Dr Ali applied to the programme to return to work, as although he was registered on the medical register, he had restrictions on his licence to practice after his dangerous driving conviction.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) determined that Dr Ali denied being subject to any investigations on his form, thereby including false information on the form as he was subject to a GMC investigation.

As a result of this, the MPTS found Dr Ali's fitness to practise to be impaired because of his misconduct.

'I have made mistakes'

Dr Ali told the tribunal: "I’m fully aware I can’t work as a doctor, regardless of the outcome of this tribunal. Not locally, not in the UK."

While he said he had made mistakes, the MPTS claimed that Dr Ali said the GMC had been "fishing for another complaint" against him, which he believed emanated from his "whistleblowing actions" from 2014.

Dr Ali alleged in the tribunal that his whistleblowing concerned the protection of serial killers by the GMC.

The MPTS said that Dr Ali alluded to there being a conspiracy against him and collusion among GMC staff and witnesses, which led the GMC to have made the allegations against him and bringing the matter to a tribunal.

The tribunal also said Dr Ali had referred to the judge who had sentenced him for the dangerous driving conviction as being prejudiced against him, calling him an "angry racist", and that in his dangerous driving trial, he had said that prison was nicer than the GMC.

Mr Ian Brook, the GMC Counsel bringing the case against Dr Ali before the tribunal, said: "[He] clearly has deep-seated attitudinal issues which appear to have worsened since the last reviewing panel.

"He has failed in that time to sufficiently reflect and remediate."