A doctor who trained in Nigeria has been barred from practising in the UK after repeatedly lying on various NHS job applications and claiming a ‘virtual assistant’ was responsible for the errors.
Dr Stephen Igwe falsely claimed he achieved a distinction in his medical degree, exaggerated the importance of his role in a London NHS trust, and denied he was being investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC).
Dr Igwe was struck off the medical register following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal, on behalf of the GMC, which also found his prescribing ability, emergency skills and neonatal knowledge were not up to standard. The tribunal took place between August 10 and August 19.
Dr Igwe qualified in 2021 from Abia State University in Nigeria. While working as a junior clinical fellow in neonatology at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in July 2024, he applied for the vacancy of senior clinical fellow in paediatric emergency medicine at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Within the application, he falsely claimed he was awarded a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery with a distinction from Abia State in 2019, when he actually graduated without a distinction two years later.
Dr Igwe said he had been a middle-grade clinical fellow in the paediatric emergency department at the Lewisham and Greenwich trust since July 2023, when his actual post was a junior clinical fellow in neonatology on a 6-month contract starting in March 2024.
He also falsely listed a junior colleague, named in the report as Dr B, as his senior line manager and referee without Dr B’s consent. Dr A, a consultant paediatrician at King’s, interviewed Dr Igwe for the position.
