A newly qualified GP has been suspended after she was caught ‘speeding up’ videos of her appointments with patients because they exceeded the simulated 12 minute time.
Dr Mahjabeen Asim, 45, used an app to manipulate footage to make consultations appear faster than they actually were, after at least one was clocked in at 45 minutes.
Dr Asim was asked to record appointments as part of her GP training at the Victoria Road surgery in Worthing, West Sussex.
But suspicions were raised when an examiner checking the films noticed an analog clock on a wall that read 12:34 p.m. but strangely ended at 11:50 p.m.
When asked, Dr Asim, who had previously failed the GP exam twice, claimed she was afraid of scoring low and was under so much stress that she considered quitting.
It was then reported to the General Medical Council.
Newly qualified family doctor Dr Mahjabeen Asim, 45, has been suspended after she was caught ‘speeding up’ videos of her appointments with patients – because they took too long. Pictured: Victoria Road Surgery in Worthing where she was working
At the Medical Practice Tribunal Service in Manchester, Dr Asim, from Streatham, south London, was found guilty of gross professional misconduct and banned from treating patients for two months.
Under NHS guidance, the average GP appointment currently takes less than ten minutes.
However, the Royal College of GPs has called for them to be extended to 15 minutes in order to give patients more time to discuss their health issues.
The hearing was told by Dr Asim, who studied medicine in Pakistan, moved to the UK in 2010 and worked in A&E at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth.
She began her GP training at Worthing Hospital in 2018 before being posted to Victoria Road Surgery.
As part of the programme, she was required to deliver 13 different recorded consultations with real patients covering different areas including acute and chronic conditions, reproductive health, child welfare and mental health.
Consultations should be continuously recorded and not edited, and the camera should not be turned off.
The criteria also state that appointments are limited to 12 minutes and, if a consultation went over the time period, Dr Asimi would not be graded for anything that happens after that.
Dr Asim submitted her consultation in March 2023, but problems began when the examiner approached a professor overseeing the program to raise concerns.
After anomalies were found in the video, all 13 of Dr Asim’s consultations were reviewed and four were suspected to have been sped up.
In a subsequent meeting with senior colleagues, Dr Asimi was ‘shocked, surprised and unable to offer an explanation for the discrepancies’.
Later that afternoon, she spoke with her head coach and admitted to rushing her enrollment.
In a statement, Dr Asim said she used her mobile phone to record the videos and then used apps to compress the file size, at which point she discovered an option to speed them up.
Dr Asim, who qualified as a GP in April 2024, apologized for her actions and said there was “no excuse or justification for her behaviour”.
Admitting she had been dishonest, she added: ‘Things had been difficult at home, but although I felt under immense pressure, I hadn’t taken any time off work or discussed the pressures I was facing with anyone.
“I had failed the exam on two previous occasions and was worried that my next attempt would be my last and I would not get a further extension to complete my training.
Asim submitted her consultation in March 2023, but trouble began when the examiner approached a professor overseeing the program to raise concerns about the recording and timing of one of the videos (Stock image)
“I recorded all my consultations over a two-month period, which felt like a continuous exam.
“I was concerned that the consultations were not complex enough to meet the criteria and there were technological challenges in presenting the consultations, so I chose to use my mobile phone to record them.”
When asked about the process of uploading and expediting the consultation videos, Dr Asim said he did not think there was enough information within the 12-minute appointment limit to cover the mandatory criteria to pass the exam.
She added: “While compressing the videos I realized they could be sped up and then I panicked and picked random videos to speed up.
I transferred the videos from my cell phone to a computer and sped up a video to check it worked. When I realized that the acceleration had worked, I then accelerated the other videos. I admit I was wrong.’
Since the incident, Dr Asim has attended a number of courses including Maintaining Professional Ethics and has created a ‘development plan which identifies the root causes of her actions and puts measures in place to prevent recurrence’.
Ms Jade Bucklow, of the GMC, said: “They are a component of the requirement to become a GP and if Dr Asim had not been caught it would have resulted in her gaining a role for which she was not qualified.
“Her actions in expediting registrations gave her an unfair advantage over other candidates as she would have had more content assessments and more opportunities to meet the criteria for taking the exam.
“Dr Asim’s behavior was sophisticated, premeditated and occurred over a period of time. It can’t be described as a moment of panic as she entered a computer to speed up the footage.
“The stress experienced by Dr Asimi was not exceptional. Many of her peers would also experience periods of stress but did not resort to cheating.’
Dr Asim’s counsel David Morris said: “While she used improper methods to help her pass the exam, Dr Asim’s actions were done in a panic with little thought or planning.
“There was no real risk to patient safety and that if Dr Asim had been successful it would have led to a competent but slow GP being admitted to the register.
“She had found it difficult to record consultations and a combination of pressures had resulted in Dr Asim acting out of character. She practically immediately admitted her dishonesty, regretted it and apologized.’
MPTS Chairperson Miss Megan Larrinaga said: “Dr Asim’s actions were aimed at undermining the system of examination and admission to the GP register.
“Her behavior was planned and extended over several days in order to help her pass professional exams.
“But the court noted that Dr Asim was going through a difficult period in her home life.
“She also admitted that she was worried about passing the exam after failing on two previous occasions and that she had not confided in anyone in detail about her difficult circumstances.
Dr Asim is now said to be more open with those around her, has friends she can confide in and is actively monitoring her stress levels.
“It was clear to the Tribunal that Dr Asim was a well-regarded doctor and that those giving evidence considered her conduct to be inappropriate.”