Trainee NHS doctor who pocketed £10,000 in sick pay while secretly moonlighting at two hospitals 150 miles apart is allowed to return to his medical practice
A junior doctor who raked in almost £10,000 in sick pay while moonlighting at two different hospitals 150 miles apart has been cleared to return to work as a doctor.
Dr Tracy Landu-Landu, 30, falsely claimed she had received NHS taxpayers’ money in Merseyside over a four-month period despite working 38 agency shifts of up to 13 hours each in Lincolnshire.
Investigators found that Landu-Landu received £9,865.52 in sick pay while working a total of 350 hours at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston and the COVID-19 department of Lincoln County Hospital.
It emerged that Landu-Landu’s partner had even warned her that she would be fired if her cheating was discovered, but it was alleged that she continued to manipulate the state coffers. She also lied to officials who confronted her about her work while she was ill.
In October last year, Landu-Landu, who lived in Grantham, was found guilty of serious misconduct by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester and suspended for nine months.
Tracy Landu-Landu, 30, falsely claimed she had received NHS taxpayers’ money in Merseyside over a four-month period despite working 38 agency shifts of up to 13 hours each in Lincolnshire.
But today she emerged fit to return to work after a hearing last month heard she had since become the subject of a media storm, online ‘trolling’ and ‘real-world social stigma’ because of her behaviour. She currently works as a doctor in Norway.
Landu-Landu said in a statement: ‘I have come to realise that my actions have damaged the trust of my employers, my colleagues and the public in the medical profession.
“I made a terrible error of judgment, inexcusable under any personal or prevailing circumstances. I have reflected on my actions repeatedly, and I want to say in all honesty that I am deeply sorry.”
The scam took place between August and December 2020, when Landu-Landu was employed as a trainee GP at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
At the time, her start date was postponed due to a period of time off work due to an unspecified illness. She received sickness benefit from the Trust totalling £9,865.52.
But unbeknownst to health authorities, Landu-Landu was working shifts of eight to 13 hours at a time for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS.
In one month alone, Landu-Landu received £3,971.83 in sick pay and in another month £2,498.41 while treating patients at Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital (pictured) and Lincoln County Hospital’s Covid-19 unit
She was referred to the GMC in April last year after an investigation into her sick pay claims lasted a staggering 16 months.
During the hearing, Landu-Landu admitted to taking the money but said she was suffering from stress due to “recent events in her life.”
She maintained that the conversation she had with her ex-partner about being fired if she worked while claiming sick pay took place after the investigation had started.
Landu-Landu claimed she did not think she was officially sick at the time, but was asked by HR staff at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to get a sick note. She said she knew she had acted wrongly, but denied claims she had not corrected her actions when made aware of them.
She later admitted that she had lied to an HR employee who had recorded that Landu-Landu had denied working while claiming sick pay.
She said she had contacted the Trust and initiated the repayment but was having ‘some difficulties arranging payment’.
In a character reference to the MPTS, a colleague identified only as Dr B said: ‘She has been honest about her mistake to those around her and has shown that she understands the seriousness of it. She has also weathered the storm that has come with this scandal, from online trolling to the social stigma in the real world.
Landu-Landu worked shifts of eight to 13 hours at a time for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (pictured is Lincoln County Hospital)
“Please give her a second chance to redeem herself and continue doing what she loves.”
MPTS Chair, Ms Sharmistha Michaels, said: ‘The court is satisfied that Dr Landu-Landu has considered the seriousness of the misconduct, including the impact of that misconduct on her colleagues, the public and the profession, and has gained a full understanding of these matters.
‘She has been making regular repayments to the Trust and plans to complete the repayment early next year.’
The court also took into account that Dr Landu-Landu has worked in her current position in Norway since 2022, initially part-time, treating both short-stay acute patients and long-stay chronic patients, and that she has notified the Norwegian Medical Licensing Authority of her suspension.
Landu-Landu was described by the court as someone with “good medical knowledge” and was well-liked by colleagues, patients and family members.
“The court is satisfied that there has been no repetition of the misconduct and that Dr Landu-Landu has taken sufficient steps to remedy it,” Ms Michaels added.
“There is little risk of a recurrence of the conduct that was the subject of the October 2023 hearing. This Court has therefore determined that Dr. Landu-Landu’s fitness to practice is no longer affected by misconduct.”
