Indian-origin pathologist in UK accused of mishandling post-mortems

An Indian-origin pathologist in the UK has been accused of mishandling post-mortems and the police were investigating if any criminal charges needed to be brought against him.

Khalid Ahmed, who qualified as a doctor in 1989 in Bengaluru, worked as a consultant histopathologist at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Manchester and carried out an undisclosed number of post-mortem tests for the north Manchester coroner's office, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Ahmed repeatedly recorded the wrong cause of death for patients, misidentified organs and potentially mixed up bodies, the report said.

In May 2017, the office's senior coroner raised concerns about Ahmed's examinations and a recent review found "significant concerns" with his "inadequate" reports.

Professor Simon Kim Suvarna, a consultant histopathologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, carried out the review of Ahmed and found some reports to have an "incorrect" cause of death.

Suvarna was also reported to have noted that Ahmed's tests "did not even meet the standards expected for pathology students to pass the autopsy component of the final exam", the daily reported.

A subsequent police referral was made by the coroner and a police investigation was ongoing.

"The Greater Manchester Police is assessing what, if any, criminal offences may have been committed in relation to findings presented to the coroner," an official said.

Ahmed joined Pennine Acute NHS Trust in January 2007, but he no longer works there. In a statement, the trust said after they were told of the coroner's concerns an "in-depth internal review" into Ahmed's practice was carried out, which concluded in February this year.

The trust added that a "thorough and extensive investigation" of Ahmed's NHS work "provided assurance" his practice was "within the range of a reasonable pathologist".

The General Medical Council said Ahmed was still licensed to practise as a histopathologist. He was not available for comment.

--IANS

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