Nigerian doctor Valentine Udoye fled violence in his homeland, Nigeria, to come to the UK with his family to work as a GP.

His travail started when an allegation was made against him in early 2018 that he was practicing as a GP without being registered with the General Medical Council (GMC the professional regulator). The GMC swiftly obtained an interim order and restricted his medical practice. An application was made to an Interim Order Tribunal (IOT) by Dr Udoye’s legal representative to revoke the restriction. The IOT heard the application on 4th December 2018 and ruled in favour of Dr Udoye. The restriction was revoked.

However the GMC then further alleged that Dr Udoye had been dishonest after he mistakenly ticked a box while completing a form. The form asked if he was on the GP register in the UK. Dr Udoye who had already passed the Royal College of General Practitioners accredited MRCGP exams in Dubai which qualified him as an international GP ticked “yes”. Despite subsequent boxes Dr Udoye had ticked clearly confirming that he was not on the GP register in the UK, the GMC referred him to Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).

The matter was heard by the MPTS in 2019 and 2020 and Dr Udoye won against the GMC again. Yet the GMC again appealed the outcome to the High Court. The High Court, after hearing the matter, referred it back to MPTS for a new hearing by a new panel. The Judge also awarded cost of £26,500 against Dr Udoye.

The matter was fixed for a 15-day hearing from 29th September to 20th October 2022. Unfortunately, after the first week of the proceedings, Dr Udoye had a cardiac related emergency due to unbearable stress and the hearing was adjourned to February 2023. Dr Udoye’s ordeal has been ongoing for almost 5 years. His wife and kids have left him, he has undergone mental health counselling and he is in a financial mess since this investigation started. His revalidation was due in 2019 and the GMC has refused to revalidate him despite having up-to-date appraisal. Recently the GMC made their intentions clear: They want to erase Dr Udoye from Medical Register.

His case comes only weeks after the closure of the case of Asian doctor Manjula Arora, accused of “dishonestly” expecting to be supplied with a laptop she had been promised for her work. It recollects, too, the case of Hadiza Bawa-Garba, which garnered international attention when the junior paediatrician’s MPTS recommendation for suspension was pursued by the GMC to the High Court and resulted in her erasure. Despite its 2021 report, Fair to Refer?, commissioned by the GMC to address over-referral of ethnic doctors, black and minority ethnic doctors are still twice as likely to be referred to the regulator than their white counterparts.

We have started this GoFund Me page to help Dr Udoye with his legal and living costs. Please give generously to enable him to fight his case. Thank you.