Hospital to make selection process more stringent

The Bombay Hospital has decided to only hire candidates with strong credentials, after a fake doctor worked at the hospital for six years undetected until Wednesday, Currently, junior doctors are hired on the basis of their documentation.

The Bombay Hospital has decided to only hire candidates with strong credentials, after a fake doctor worked at the hospital for six years undetected until Wednesday, Currently, junior doctors are hired on the basis of their documentation.

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“We plan to start getting at least two cross references for junior doctors as well. We also plan to cross check their SSC and HSC certificates,” said Dr DP Vyas, medical director at the hospital. “It will help if the medical degree certificates display the candidates photograph.”

This change in procedure came after Zuber Qureshi, a medical college drop out, assumed his old classmate Meraj Shaikh’s identity and used his documents to secure a junior resident doctor’s post at the hospital. This continued for six years until the police arrested him on Wednesday after the real Dr Meraj Shaikh, lodged a complaint against him.

The hospital said that at the time of appointment, the original certificates submitted by the doctor seemed reliable. A statement released by the hospital on Thursday said: “Though we are very stringent about checking the authenticity of certificates submitted by candidates, this is a clear case of impersonation and fraud.” The hospital currently has 200 resident doctors.

Qureshi was working under Dr CA Somaya, a cardiothoracic surgeon. His seniors had no cause to complain about his work.

“We did not receive a single complaint against him. As a junior resident doctor he was not directly involved with the treatment of the patients and was not authorised to take any decisions regarding treatment on his own,” added Vyas. Qureshi is currently in police custody under charges of forgery and impersonation.