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GP told patient to see personal injury law firm
Amar Singh09.04.09
A LONDON GP is facing investigation by the General Medical Council for referring patients to a firm of personal injury solicitors.
Dr Ijaz Hayat, who runs a surgery in Walthamstow, may have breached the GMC code of conduct after recommending Higgins & Co to a road accident victim, an investigation by ITV London Tonight found.
The doctor, who treated the patient in Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstone for whiplash on 22 March, also gave his name as reference in a handwritten note which he was told to take to the firm. If found to have accepted a payment for referring the patient, he could be struck off.
The patient, Hasanein Ba-Alawi, a 25-year-old IT consultant, said: “I was completely shocked.”
Higgins & Co, based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, face investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
