Surgeon who lied about experience jailed for six years

The jury took less than two hours to find Sudip Sarker guilty of fraud by false representation

A surgeon who lied about the number of operations he had carried out to get a lucrative job has been jailed for six years.

Sudip Sarker, 48, told interviewers in 2011 he had performed 85 keyhole bowel operations, 51 of them working solo. The true figure was just six.

He was appointed to an £84,000 job at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, but immediately struggled.

Sarker, of Botany Road, Broadstairs, Kent, was convicted of fraud.

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Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust previously said he worked at the trust for 14 months, until his suspension in October 2012, which led to his dismissal.

What judge Robert Juckes QC described as Sarker's "gross exaggeration" has since led to the trust facing more than £2m in medical negligence pay-outs.

The judge told him: "You plainly understood what it was the hospital wanted you to talk about."

Prosecutor Jacob Hallam QC told Worcester Crown Court Sarker had a "higher mortality rate" among his patients and a far higher complication rate.

He was stopped from working and eventually sacked, but it cost the trust another £304,019 while he was suspended and investigated on full pay.

Ongoing investigation

Three of Sarker's patients had subsequently died, the court heard, although experts concluded there was "no evidence to support a case for manslaughter", his barrister, Martin Hicks QC, said.

Another surgeon at the hospital blew the whistle. An internal investigation and two expert-led independent reviews followed, with the Royal College of Surgeons uncovering Sarker's failings.

The GMC has previously said he had been suspended from practice since June 2014 and an investigation is ongoing into concerns about the number of patients who died while under his care.

The judge said no criticism could be attached to the trust for appointing Sarker, who arrived with proper references from previous employers at Whittington Hospital, and the Royal Free Hospital, London.

He was convicted of fraud by false representation.

In mitigation, Mr Hicks added Sarker had - until lying in interview - performed "great service" to patients over many years.