Doctors moonlighting for extra cash are signing buy-to-order sick notes without even a conversation with the patient, a Mail on Sunday investigation has uncovered.
One NHS consultant wrote a letter for our undercover reporter after she claimed she needed two weeks off work ‘to go to the beach’. She was charged £25.
The reporter was also able to obtain similar notes from several websites, telling them simply she was suffering from stress or anxiety, but providing no further details.
Seven consultants were involved, with each note costing between £25 and £55.
Our investigation also found that:
- Doctors are taking advantage of Britain’s absenteeism culture, which has seen the number of sick notes issued annually in England more than double to 11 million in the eight years to 2023, threatening the economic recovery;
- Three NHS doctors dished out sick letters using companies they themselves own;
- One doctor issued a note in just seven minutes after the reporter claimed to have ‘anxiety and stress’ but gave no other details in a 30-second video;
- Another three doctors, all of whom are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), signed letters but required no medical evidence.
Dr Ravikumar Ravindran (pictured) advised that our reporter should have two weeks’ leave
Alongside his NHS day job, Dr Ravindran works for an Australian-owned company called Updoc, which offers a £24.95 monthly subscription to patients wanting ‘unlimited medical letters’
Ravikumar Ravindran, who works for an NHS health board in South Wales, advised that our reporter should have two weeks’ leave after she wrote in an online form: ‘I would really benefit from time off work due to the hot weather and I want to be spending time at the beach.’
The Cardiff-based endocrinologist wrote a note intended for her employer, saying that he had ‘reviewed’ her medical history and ‘determined that she is unwell and unfit for work’.
Alongside his NHS day job, Dr Ravindran works for an Australian-owned company called Updoc, which offers a £24.95 monthly subscription to patients wanting ‘unlimited medical letters’. It boasts of having helped more than 10,000 Britons receive documents that sign them off work.
Updoc gives doctors ‘competitive remuneration’ and ‘flexible working hours’ in return for issuing sick notes.
Other doctors last night hit out at the practices.
Dr Dean Eggitt, a senior principal GP in Doncaster, said: ‘It’s breathtakingly poor medicine, but it is not unsurprising.
The sick not recieved after a consultation with Dr Ravikumar Ravindran saying wanted time off to go to the beach
‘When money comes into it, people are willing to flex rules that they otherwise wouldn’t be willing to flex.
‘It goes against the GMC’s duties of care as a doctor, it goes against human moral standards and it needs to be tightly regulated to stop it happening. It’s clearly not appropriate.’
Data published by the Office for National Statistics has revealed that the number of people classed as economically inactive – defined as those not in work and not looking for work – has spiralled to 9.4 million, up from 8.4 million before Covid.
Whereas NHS patients who want to be signed off usually get a letter free of charge from their GP, private online services allow them to buy a letter – often by providing shockingly little information.
These sick notes can be accepted by employers as eligibility for Statutory Sick Pay, according to the Government’s website. But The Mail on Sunday was easily able to obtain a medical letter from Birmingham-based Dr Mohammed Sulaiman Shah after a reporter paid £55 and wrote in an online form that she was ‘suffering from stress and anxiety’.
She was signed off work for two weeks, with the GP writing that he had made a diagnosis of ‘anxiety and stress’ and the patient ‘should refrain from engaging in any work-related activities’.
Dr Shah’s company, The GP Clinic, states on its website that it has a ‘money-back guarantee if not approved’ for a sick letter, which takes ‘just a few clicks’.
Dr Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a GP at Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust, signed a sick note for two weeks after our reporter submitted a 30-second video saying she wanted time off for ‘stress’.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics has revealed that the number of people classed as economically inactive – defined as those not in work and not looking for work – has spiralled to 9.4 million, up from 8.4 million before Covid (stock photo)
His company SomDoc, which he runs from a council house in East London, operates a website called Home2Lab, which boasts ‘no appointment required’ and ‘same day’ sick notes from £44.
Dr Kenny Livingstone, an urgent care GP at the Royal Free NHS Hospital in London, signed a sick note just seven minutes after our reporter recorded a 30-second video pledging stress and anxiety.
He is the majority shareholder in ZoomDoc, the company that provided the service and which counts tennis star Sir Andy Murray among its initial investors.
There is no suggestion that Murray has any knowledge of the practices we are highlighting.
Dr Justicia Kyeremeh, a clinical fellow in urology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, issued the reporter with a ‘fit to return to work’ letter two hours after her colleague had signed her off work for stress and anxiety.
She is also employed by Updoc, alongside Dr Ravindran, the doctor who gave the reporter time off after she said that she wanted to go to the beach. When the MoS approached Dr Ravindran at his home in Cardiff this week, he admitted writing ‘a couple’ of sick notes a week through Updoc.
He refused to say how much he gets paid, but added: ‘It’s about helping the public because they are not able to get appointments with their GP when they have serious health problems.’
Whereas NHS patients who want to be signed off usually get a letter free of charge from their GP, private online services allow them to buy a letter – often by providing shockingly little information (stock photo)
He also denied he had given the reporter a sick note for wanting to go to the beach despite his name, signature and GMC number being on the letter.
Dr Shah, who runs The GP Clinic, said he would be conducting an audit of his company’s process in response to the MoS’s findings, adding: ‘We took the statement in good faith, recognising it as a genuine expression of need.’
A ZoomDoc spokesman said the company helped reduce strain on NHS resources and that it had ‘saved approximately 8,500 hours of NHS GP surgery time in the last year alone’.
They added: ‘We expect people to be truthful and accurate when reporting their symptoms, just like any other NHS service.’
Home2Lab said its services ‘are fully in line with GMC guidance’ and that ‘doctors generally work in good faith and are not in the habit of disbelieving patients’.
The MoS approached Updoc for comment.