Crooked Droitwich dentists still running Midland practices

Left: Ikhlaq Hussain and Jaspal Bachada.

Be careful which dentist you choose.

Work done in private practises can be sub-standard.

Best to 'buy British' when choosing a dentist.

The Sunday Mercury reports- TWO crooked dentists jailed for defrauding patients out of £90,000 are still profiting from the profession because of a legal loophole, it was claimed last night.

Ikhlaq Hussain and Jaspal Bachada, duped dental customers in Droitwich, Worcestershire, into paying inflated charges and then tried to cover up their scam by destroying records.

Hussain, 38, from Alum Rock, was jailed for 30 months last week for conspiracy to defraud, while Bachada, 37 and from Stourbridge, was caged for 20 months.

But the Sunday Mercury has learned that the conmen could still be involved in the ownership of up to TEN other Midland practices, despite being locked up.

A spokesman for the NHS Counter Fraud Service said Bachada and Hussain could still legally run private practices despite their convictions.

“Private dentistry is clearly outside the NHS. The General Dental Council would have to be in charge of monitoring their future activities,” he said.

“Potentially they could have private practices up and running at the moment.

‘‘The Primary Care Trust can suspend their contracts and remove them from the register, but we can’t stop them running private clinics.”

A spokeswoman for the General Dental Council said: “Both these men have been suspended and now the criminal trial is finished there will be an investigation,” she said. “We don’t have information on who owns private practices.” Read more

Dentists jailed for fraud against patients and NHS at Droitwich practice

Left: Ikhlaq Hussain, 38, and Jaspal Singh Bachada.

Patients defrauded by Asian dentists in the West Midlands.

Vote BNP for more indiginous health professionals, and an end to loopholes in the system.

The Birmingham Mail reports - Two dentists, from the West Midlands, have been jailed for fraud against patients and the NHS.

Ikhlaq Hussain, 38, of College Road, Alum Rock, Birmingham, was sentenced to 30 months and Jaspal Singh Bachada, 37, of Redlake Drive, Stourbridge, was jailed for 20 months.

The men were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court by Judge Robert Jukes on Tuesday, who estimated the value of the fraud to be around £25,000.

Hussain was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud by a jury at the court in July, while Bachada pleaded guilty to the same charge at an earlier hearing.

They were charged after a complex inquiry by the NHS Counter Fraud
Service into allegations that patients at Droitwich Spa Dental Practice in Worcestershire were tricked into paying inflated charges.

The court heard that patients at the Blackfriars Lane practice were led to believe they were being treated on the NHS but were charged private dental rates.

Hussain and Bachada bought the Droitwich practice in 2002 but it is now under new ownership. The pair own a string of dental practices in the West Midlands, Scotland, Merseyside and Warwickshire.

A spokesman for the NHS Counter Fraud Service said 2,500 patients came forward to assist the investigation after whistleblowers raised concerns about Hussain and Bachada.

Steve McKenzie, dental fraud team manager at the NHS CFS, said: "We are pleased with this outcome after a very long and extensive investigation by the NHS Counter Fraud Service.

"All suspicions of fraud against the NHS that are reported to us will be followed up. Wherever appropriate we will investigate and press for prosecution and the strongest sanctions against offenders. We commend all the whistleblowers who came forward."

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