A doctor educated in Pakistan has been struck off the UK medical register after failing to disclose convictions for stalking and threatening to kill when applying for NHS positions. Dr. Salah-ud-Din Taj intentionally misled the General Medical Council (GMC) by not mentioning any of his 14 previous convictions when he applied to work in the UK, according to a panel from the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.
Dr. Taj, who qualified from the University of the Punjab in Pakistan in 1996, worked as a medical registrar in Australia between 2007 and 2017. During his time in Australia, he was convicted of 14 offenses at the Magistrates Court of Victoria in Melbourne over a four-month period. He received a community correction order for one year, which included 150 hours of supervised unpaid work.
When Dr. Taj applied to work in the UK in 2018, he answered "no" to a question about prior convictions or cautions. He subsequently provided false information to North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust to secure a position a year later. Dr. Taj later claimed his convictions were not serious enough to declare upon moving to the UK and stated he was confused by the question on the form.
The panel found that Dr. Taj had also provided inaccurate information on his North Cumbria application, noting only a "minor incident" with his victim in Australia and consistently seeking to minimize the offenses. From 2022, Dr. Taj worked as a Locum Consultant in Acute Medicine at Lincoln County Hospital.
Dr. Taj's convictions came to light during a GMC investigation. The investigation also revealed that he had misrepresented his employment history, claiming to have exclusively practiced in Australia between 2007 and 2017 when he had taken breaks to visit Pakistan.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service concluded that Dr. Taj could not remain on the register due to his dishonesty. The panel stated that even a layperson would understand that 14 offenses spanning four months were serious and should be declared to a regulator. As an experienced professional who had undergone registration in Australia, Dr. Taj should have been fully aware of the importance of full disclosure. The tribunal found his provision of inaccurate information regarding his employment history to be intentionally misleading. The panel determined that erasure from the register was appropriate and proportionate, as any lesser sanction would fail to maintain public confidence and professional standards.