A newly qualified GP has been suspended after she was caught ‘speeding up’ videos of her patient appointments because they exceeded the 12-minute time limit.
Dr Mahjabeen Asim, 45, used an app to manipulate images to make consultations look faster than they actually were. One consultation lasted at least 45 minutes.
Dr Asim was asked to record the appointments as part of her GP training at the Victoria Road Clinic in Worthing, West Sussex.
But suspicions arose when an examiner checking the films noticed an analogue clock on the wall that read 12.34pm but strangely did not stop until 11.50pm.
When questioned, Dr Asim, who had already failed her GP exam twice, said she was afraid of receiving a negative assessment and was under so much stress that she considered quitting.
She was subsequently reported to the General Medical Council.
Newly qualified GP Dr Mahjabeen Asim, 45, has been suspended after she was caught ‘speeding up’ videos of her patient appointments – because they were taking too long. Pictured: The Victoria Road clinic in Worthing where she worked
At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester, Dr Asim, from Streatham, south London, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and banned from treating patients for two months.
According to NHS guidelines, an average GP visit currently takes less than ten minutes.
However, the Royal College of GPs has called for consultations to be extended to 15 minutes, to give patients more time to discuss their health problems.
The hearing was told that Dr Asim, who studied medicine in Pakistan, moved to the UK in 2010 and worked in the emergency department of West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth.
She commenced her GP training in 2018 at Worthing Hospital, after which she was assigned to Victoria Road Surgery.
As part of the program, she had to submit 13 different recorded consultations with real patients, covering a variety of topics including acute and chronic conditions, reproductive health, child welfare and mental health.
Consultations must be recorded continuously and not edited, nor may the camera be turned off.
The criteria also state that appointments are limited to 12 minutes. If a consultation lasts longer than 12 minutes, Dr. Asim will not receive any points for what happens afterward.
Dr. Asim submitted her consultations in March 2023, but problems began when the examiner approached a professor overseeing the program to raise concerns.
After abnormalities were found in the videos, all 13 of Dr. Asim’s consultations were reviewed and it was suspected that four had been accelerated.
At a subsequent meeting with senior colleagues, Dr Asim was ‘shocked, surprised and unable to provide an explanation for the discrepancies.’
Later that same afternoon, she spoke to her GP trainer and admitted that she had rushed the admission.
In a statement, Dr. Asim said she used her mobile phone to record the videos and then used apps to reduce the file size. It was then that she discovered an option to speed up the videos.
Dr Asim, who qualified as a general practitioner in April 2024, apologised for her actions, saying there was “no excuse or justification for her behaviour”.
She admitted she had been dishonest, adding: ‘Things were tough at home, but even though I felt under enormous pressure, I hadn’t taken time off work and hadn’t discussed the pressure I was under with anyone.
‘I had already failed the exam twice and I feared that my next attempt would be the last and that I would not be given an extension to complete my education.
Asim submitted her consultations in March 2023, but problems 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. It felt like an ongoing exam.
‘I was concerned that the consultations were not complex enough to meet the criteria and that there were technological challenges in submitting consultations, so I chose to record them using my mobile phone.’
When asked about the process of uploading and expediting the consultation videos, Dr. Asim said she did not feel that the 12-minute limit of the appointments contained enough information to cover the mandatory criteria for passing the exam.
She added: ‘While compressing the videos I realised they could be sped up. I panicked and picked random videos to speed up.
“I transferred the videos from my cell phone to a computer and sped up one video to see if it worked. When I realized that speeding up worked, I sped up other videos. I admit I was wrong.”
Since the incident, Dr. Asim has completed a number of courses, including maintaining professional ethics. She has also created a “development plan” in which she identifies the root causes of her actions and takes steps to prevent recurrence.”
Ms Jade Bucklow, of the GMC, said: ‘They are part of the requirements to become a GP. If Dr Asim had not been caught, she would have been given a job for which she was not qualified.
‘By speeding up the recordings, she was given an unfair advantage over other candidates, as more material was reviewed and she had a better chance of meeting the criteria to pass the exam.
‘Dr. Asim’s behavior was sophisticated, premeditated and occurred over a period of time. It could not be described as a moment of panic when she logged onto a computer to speed up the images.
“The stress that Dr. Asim experienced was not unusual. Many of her colleagues would also experience periods of stress, but did not resort to cheating.”
Dr Asim’s lawyer, David Morris, said: ‘Although she resorted to improper methods to help her pass the exam, Dr Asim did her actions in a panic, without much thought or planning.
‘There was no real risk to patient safety. Had Dr Asim been successful, it would have resulted in a competent but slow GP being registered.
‘She found it difficult to record the consultations and a combination of pressures had led to Dr Asim behaving in an unusual manner. She accepted her dishonesty almost immediately, expressed remorse and apologised.’
MPTS President, Ms Megan Larrinaga, said: ‘Dr Asim’s actions were aimed at undermining the system of examination and admission to the GP register.
‘Her performance was planned and lasted several days, with the aim of helping her pass her professional exams.
But the court noted that Dr Asim was going through a difficult time in her home life.
It was also acknowledged that she was worried about passing the exam, having failed it twice already, and that she had not told anyone in detail about her difficult circumstances.
‘It is said that Dr. Asim is now more open with people around her, has friends to whom she can express her feelings and is actively monitoring her stress levels.
“It was clear to the court that Dr Asim was a respected physician and that those who gave evidence considered her behaviour to be unusual.”
