Cardiff: Gambling addict fraud doctor allowed to work again

Dr Aled Meirion Jones will be allowed to return to work later this month

A doctor who developed a gambling addiction and later defrauded the NHS of nearly £70,000 is being allowed to resume medical practise.

In January 2021, Dr Aled Meirion Jones from Llandaff, Cardiff admitted two counts of fraud to the value of £67,420.

He was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Dr Jones admitted stealing cheques and claiming for shifts he had not worked.

Following that conviction, his registration as a doctor was suspended for 18 months, but he is now being allowed to resume work from 11 April.

A medical practitioners' tribunal heard he was fundamentally a good doctor who had worked hard to address his problems after receiving extensive support and counselling.

• Fraudulent NHS doctor's suspension extended

• 'I stole £70,000 to feed my gambling addiction'

The panel concluded he was unlikely to re-offend and had developed insight into his previous addiction.

His sentence had been completed and all the money stolen was paid back.

The hearing was told Dr Jones had been offered two jobs, including a return to transplant medicine at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

The tribunal considered his witness statement and a statement of reflection and considered he was "earnest in his expressions of regret and remorse".

Dr Aled Meirion Jones was covicted of fraud against the NHS to the value of more than £68,000

The panel heard Dr Jones had volunteered to work on Covid wards during the pandemic, had worked in the Covid vaccination centre and worked voluntary shifts for renal transplants in excess of 600 hours.

Dr Jones previously told BBC Wales he was "enormously ashamed" by what had been a "catastrophic" gambling addiction.

He said he had lost £800,000 due to problems which first surfaced when he was a medical student.

Dr Jones said the gambling had taken over his life and he had lost relationships.

Over the past 12 months, Dr Jones has volunteered to deliver medical aid to Ukraine and one of the many references in his support was from a hospital doctor in the city of Chernihiv, north of Kyiv.