Newly qualified GP, 45, was suspended after she was caught ‘speeding up’ video calls to patients because they exceeded the 12-minute time limit

A newly-minted GP has been suspended after she was caught “speeding up” videos of her patient visits because they exceeded the 12-minute time limit.

Dr Mahjabeen Asim, 45, used an app to manipulate recordings to make consultations appear quicker than they actually were, with at least one lasting 45 minutes.

Dr Asim was asked to book appointments as part of her GP training at the Victoria Road practice in Worthing, West Sussex.

However, suspicions arose when the examiner checking the films noticed an analogue clock on the wall that showed the time as 12:34 but strangely ended at 11:50.

During cross-examination, Dr Asim, who had previously failed her GP exam twice, admitted she was afraid of getting a lower grade and was so stressed she thought about resigning.

She was then reported to the General Medical Council.

Manchester Crown Court found Dr Asim, of Streatham, south London, guilty of serious professional misconduct and banned him from treating patients for two months.

According to NHS guidelines, the average GP visit now lasts less than ten minutes.

However, the Royal College of GPs has called for their duration 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 at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth.

She began her GP training at Worthing Hospital in 2018 before being assigned to Victoria Road Surgery.

As part of the programme, she was required to present 13 different recorded consultations with real patients, covering a range of areas including acute and chronic conditions, reproductive health, child welfare and mental health.

Consultations should be recorded continuously, without editing, and the camera should not be turned off.

The criteria also state that meetings are limited to 12 minutes, and if a consultation goes over that time, Dr Asim will not receive points for anything that happens afterward.

Dr Asim submitted her consultation in March 2023, but problems began when the examiner approached the professor supervising the programme to raise her concerns.

After irregularities were found in the video recordings, all 13 of Dr Asim’s consultations were reviewed and it was suspected that four of them had been rushed.

During a subsequent meeting with senior colleagues, Dr. Asim was “shocked, surprised and unable to explain the discrepancies.”

Later that afternoon she spoke to her GP trainer and admitted to speeding up the recording.

Dr. Asim said in her statement that she recorded the videos on her mobile phone and then used a file compression app. It was only then that she discovered the option to speed them up.

Dr Asim, who qualified as a GP in April 2024, apologised for her actions and said there was “no justification or excuse for her behaviour”.

Admitting she had been dishonest, she added: “Things at home were difficult but although I felt under enormous pressure, I did not take any time off work or speak to anyone about the pressures I was facing.

“I had already failed the exam twice and was afraid that the next attempt would be the last and I would not get another extension to complete the training.

“I recorded all the consultations over a two-month period, which felt like a continuous study.

“I was concerned that the consultations would not be complex enough to meet the criteria and that there would be technological difficulties in uploading the consultations, so I decided to record them on my mobile phone.”

When asked about the process of uploading and expediting the consultation videos, Dr Asim said that in her opinion, not enough information could be collected within the 12-minute time limit for the meetings to meet the mandatory passing criteria.

She added, “While compressing the videos, I realized that they could be sped up, so I panicked and selected random videos to speed them up.

“I transferred videos from my mobile phone to my computer and sped up one video to see if it worked. Once I realized that the speedup worked, I sped up other videos. I admit I was wrong.”

Since the incident, Dr. Asim has taken a number of courses, including on professional conduct, and has created a “development plan to identify the root causes of her actions and implement measures to prevent recurrence.”

Miss Jade Bucklow, of the GMC, said: “They are part of the requirements for becoming a GP and if Dr Asim had not been caught she would have been given a position for which she was not qualified.

“Her actions in speeding up the recording gave her an unfair advantage over other candidates as she would have been subject to more material being assessed and would have had a greater chance of meeting the passing criteria.

Dr. Asim’s procedure was sophisticated, planned, and took place over time. It cannot be described as a moment of panic as she logged onto the computer to speed up the recording.

“The stress Dr. Asim experienced was not unique. Many of her peers experienced periods of stress, but they did not resort to cheating.”

Dr Asim’s attorney, David Morris, said: “Although Dr Asim resorted to inappropriate methods to pass the exam, her actions were dictated by panic, lack of consideration and planning.

“There was no real risk to patient safety and had Dr Asim been successful, the competent but slow GP would have been admitted to the register.

“She found recording the consultation difficult and the combination of pressures caused Dr Asim to behave in an uncharacteristic manner. She almost immediately accepted his dishonesty, expressed remorse and apologised.”

MPTS Chairperson, Miss Megan Larrinaga said: “Dr Asim’s actions were intended to undermine the GP examination and admission system.”

“Her behaviour was planned and spread over several days to help her pass her professional exams.

“However, the tribunal noted that Dr Asim was going through a difficult period in her family life.

“It was also assumed that she was worried about passing the exam because she had failed it twice, and that she had not confided in anyone in detail about her difficult situation.

Dr Asim is said to be more open with people now, has friends she can confide in, and actively monitors her stress levels.

“It was clear to the Tribunal that Dr Asim was a respected medical practitioner and that those giving evidence found her behaviour unusual.”