How to protect yourself from fake medical staff
Healthcare personnel have long been known to pose as medical staff, using fake names and images.
But a new report suggests a new breed of fake medical personnel are using their real names to get around the rules.
It also suggests the new breed may have gone further than previously thought to trick patients into signing up for expensive medical treatments.
The report comes as the number of patients getting their health insurance paid for through the NHS has soared, as has the number getting their private healthcare.
The new strain of fake health staff, known as the NHS Personnel Association, was identified by health professionals as being in use by some of the most dangerous medical professionals in the country.
“This is a growing problem that is a real danger to people,” said the report’s author, the chief executive of the Royal College of GPs.
“There is a lack of trust in the NHS, and there is a huge amount of concern about the quality of the medical staff in the health service.
He said that when a patient is in the process of getting a health treatment, the fake health service can often mask a real one.
This is why we’ve had to create a new industry around NHS personnel, he added.
For a patient, there’s a lot of uncertainty, so they often go to the NHS.
They say, ‘I don’t know what I need, but I want to be able to get it, so I’ll give it to you’.” The problem is that this is an industry that has been operating since at least the 1980s, said Dr Sarah Maclean, chief executive officer of the NHS Society, the body that represents health professionals.
She said: “We’ve been working hard to develop a reputation in the healthcare sector as being professional and ethical.
But there’s an underlying fear that this will be used by the NHS to create fear in patients.”
‘They are not going to be looking out for you’Health care professionals are not necessarily the only ones to fall foul of the new scam, as it has also been discovered by the BBC’s Inside Out programme that health care professionals have also been using their NHS identities to buy drugs.
Dr McLean said that in many cases the fake NHS staff have also taken to buying drugs through websites that have been set up by pharmaceutical companies. “
They are using NHS names for their NHS agents, they’re using NHS aliases, and they’re also using NHS identities for their staff.”
Dr McLean said that in many cases the fake NHS staff have also taken to buying drugs through websites that have been set up by pharmaceutical companies.
One of the drugs being bought is an antiviral called Sovaldi.
In a separate report, The Guardian found that a third of NHS staff in England have been using fake NHS names to obtain drugs through online pharmacies.
It also revealed that a doctor working in the Department of Health has used fake NHS identities and a fake patient name to purchase drugs for her own use.
What can you do if you are caught using fake medical identities?
Dr Maclay said:”The NHS Personnel Act was meant to protect healthcare professionals, and it’s really important that people are using it.”
We’ve got a lot more work to do, but there’s so much that we can do to make sure people are aware of what’s happening.
“The real thing is not fake.
If you see someone with a fake NHS name and you think it’s an NHS name, it’s a very small part of the story.”
The Government says it is working with health care authorities to make the fake healthcare workers less attractive.
A spokesperson said: “We are working closely with the NHS and health professionals to identify and remove people who are using fake identities.”
If you think you’ve been identified, we want to hear from you.
“There are some safeguards in place, but they should only be used as a last resort.”