Tochukwu Akah

Introduction

Dr Tochukwu Akah is a doctor who was struck off by the Medical Practitioners Tribunals Service after working at an NHS hospital trust in Hampshire on a CV the tribunal called a “wholesale fabrication”. Akah joined Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a clinical fellow in haematology in September 2024, and admitted more than 20 false claims — including pretending to have worked as a chief medical officer in Nigeria. A tribunal panel removed him from the medical register with immediate effect.

Background Information

Akah’s application form claimed awards for “best student in internal medicine” and “distinction in pathology” at a Nigerian university, along with work as “Chief Medical Officer in the emergency department” in Nigeria and published research on sickle cell disease. He also claimed to have independently carried out stem cell transplants, bone marrow biopsies and blood transfusions. None of the claims were true, the tribunal said. He had also failed a course with the UK Resuscitation Council, which deemed him unfit to practice.

The trust he joined, which has main hospitals in Basingstoke and Winchester, employed him as a clinical fellow in haematology from September 2024. He was dismissed from his post after hospital colleagues raised concerns about him, and the trust subsequently reported him to the General Medical Council in May 2025, triggering the MPTS hearing. The trust said it took action to keep patients safe while investigating the concerns about him, and said that following a formal HR process, Dr Akah was dismissed from Hampshire Hospitals.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Struck off. A Medical Practitioners Tribunals Service panel removed Dr Tochukwu Akah from the medical register with immediate effect after he admitted more than 20 false claims on the CV that won him a clinical fellow post at an NHS hospital trust. The tribunal concluded: “This was a wholesale fabrication of awards, publications, presentations, and experience, designed to meet the criteria for job selection on a fictitious basis.”

Barrister Jade Bucklow told the hearing: “It is simply fortuitous that we do not have a case of patient harm within this allegation.” The tribunal said patients were exposed to “significant risk”, although there was no evidence that any were actually harmed.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The consequence is the most severe the medical regulator can impose: removal from the medical register with immediate effect, published through the tribunal process where any future employer or regulator can find it. Asked by the BBC about the vetting process for job applicants, a trust spokesperson said: “Patient safety is always our priority. As soon as concerns were raised, measures were put in place to keep patients safe whilst matters were investigated in line with policy. Following a formal HR process, Dr Akah was dismissed from Hampshire Hospitals.” The case centred not on clinical error but on deception — a fabricated professional history that the tribunal found was designed to meet job selection criteria on a fictitious basis.

Current Status

Akah has been removed from the medical register with immediate effect and, according to his barrister, was not currently working in the UK or for an NHS trust. No criminal proceedings appear in the published record of the case; the outcome is a regulatory finding built on fabrication he admitted before the tribunal.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Removal from the medical register with immediate effect ends Akah’s ability to practise as a doctor in the UK, little more than a year after he joined the Hampshire trust on the strength of credentials the tribunal found were entirely invented. The published finding — more than 20 admitted false claims spanning fabricated awards, research, presentations and procedural experience, alongside a failed Resuscitation Council course that deemed him unfit to practice — now forms a permanent part of the public professional record. The fabricated history had carried him into patient-facing NHS work at a trust serving Basingstoke and Winchester, where the panel heard the absence of patient harm was simply fortuitous. The tribunal’s conclusion that the fabrication was designed to secure a job on a fictitious basis now follows him into any future application in medicine or elsewhere.

Sources

• BBC News, “Fake CV doctor struck off after NHS hospital job in Hampshire,” November 4, 2026 — source