Source: news.com.au (Renee Viellaris and Michael Wray)
A GOLD Coast doctor accused of lying about his employment history owned documents and rubber stamps used to authenticate medical credentials. The Australian Federal Police seized the evidence from the unit of Mohammed Asif Ali during their investigation into freed terror suspect Mohamed Haneef.
The two rubber stamps contained the details of professors S.V. Srikrishna and L.N. Mohan from Bangalore’s St John’s Medical College in India. Two copied documents, believed to have been testimonials for Dr Ali affirming his proficiency in certain procedures, had been stamped.
Dr Ali, a former colleague and flatmate of Dr Haneef, was suspended with pay on Friday after Queensland police advised Queensland Health about discrepancies in his resume. Just two years after the scandal engulfing former Bundaberg Base Hospital surgeon Jayant Patel, the State Government again faces questions about how it screens overseas-trained doctors. The new revelations raise concerns about Dr Ali’s experience; but the Government yesterday went to extraordinary lengths to protect him.
Queensland Health said in a statement: “Material provided by the Australian Federal Police through the Queensland Police Commissioner does not include information regarding Dr Ali’s competence as a doctor nor raise concerns about his scope of practice.” The Courier-Mail revealed yesterday that Dr Ali had included up to 12 months of hospital work in India that he never performed because he was at the time on leave to take care of a family problem.
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said yesterday that Queenslanders were entitled to know “what Dr Ali was actually doing, what practice of medicine he had within the Queensland Health System, (and) what medical procedures he was carrying out”.
Dr Ali’s lawyer Neil Lawler said his client, who now faces a Crime and Misconduct Commission probe, had co-operated with police and would fight for his job.