Nigerian-Trained Doctor Struck Off UK Register Over Job Application Lies

A doctor who trained in Nigeria has been barred from practising in the UK after repeatedly lying on NHS job applications and blaming a “virtual assistant” for the errors.

Dr Stephen Igwe was struck off the medical register following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal on behalf of the General Medical Council, GMC. The tribunal, which sat from August 10 to August 19, found him guilty of serious misconduct and deficient professional performance.

Dr Igwe qualified in 2021 from Abia State University in Nigeria. While working as a junior clinical fellow in neonatology at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in July 2024, he applied for the role of senior clinical fellow in paediatric emergency medicine at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

In the application, he falsely claimed he was awarded a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery with a distinction from Abia State in 2019, when he actually graduated without a distinction two years later.

He also claimed he had been a middle-grade clinical fellow in the paediatric emergency department at Lewisham and Greenwich since July 2023. His actual post was a junior clinical fellow in neonatology on a 6-month contract starting in March 2024.

Dr Igwe further listed a junior colleague, named in the report as Dr B, as his senior line manager and referee without Dr B’s consent.

Dr A, a consultant paediatrician at King’s, interviewed Dr Igwe for the position. While attempting to check his references, she was unable to reach Dr B. She then contacted a colleague in the paediatric emergency department at Lewisham and Greenwich, who said he did not know Dr Igwe.

Dr A called Dr Igwe to query the application and informed him that the trust had confirmed he did not work in paediatric emergency and was not a registrar. Instead of admitting the truth, Dr Igwe insisted: “Yes, I am.” Dr A reported him to the GMC.

The doctor’s dishonesty continued in subsequent applications. In November 2024, he applied to Croydon Health Services NHS Trust’s emergency department and denied he was being investigated by the GMC. He made the same denial in a January 2025 application to the same trust.

Dr Igwe later admitted to all the allegations. He told the tribunal the dishonesty arose from “being panicked at the prospect of his employment contract not being renewed, meaning he may lose his visa and income and potentially have to return to Nigeria”.

When first facing GMC scrutiny, he claimed a virtual assistant back in his home country was to blame for mistakes on his application forms. He later withdrew the claim and admitted he invented the assistant to deflect blame.

The tribunal also found Dr Igwe’s medical skills were below standard. In February 2025, he underwent a GMC performance assessment which declared his clinical management “unacceptable” due to poor prescribing and basic life support skills. Assessors said the failings posed a direct risk to patient safety.

The GMC subsequently removed Dr Igwe from the UK medical register on two grounds: serious misconduct for widespread dishonesty, and deficient professional performance.