A trainee doctor who pocketed almost £10,000 in sick pay while moonlighting at two different hospitals 160 miles away has been cleared to return to medical duties.
Dr Tracy Landu-Landu, 30, falsely claimed taxpayer-funded handouts over a four-month period from the NHS in Merseyside despite working 38 locum shifts of up to 13 hours each in Lincolnshire.
Investigators discovered that Landu-Landu received £9,865.52 in sick pay while she worked a total of 350 hours at the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston and the Covid-19 ward at the Lincoln County Hospital.
It emerged Landu-Landu’s partner had even warned her she faced the sack if her deceit was discovered but it was claimed she carried on fiddling the public purse. She also lied to officials who confronted her about working while off sick.
In October last year at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester, Landu-Landu, who lived in Grantham, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and was suspended for nine months.
Tracy Landu-Landu, 30, falsely claimed taxpayer-funded handouts over a four-month period from the NHS in Merseyside despite working 38 locum shifts of up to 13 hours each in Lincolnshire.
But today it emerged she had been deemed fit to return to work after a review hearing last month was told she had since become the subject of a media ‘storm’, online ‘trolling’ and ‘real-world social stigma’ over her behaviour. She is currently working as a doctor in Norway.
In a statement Landu-Landu said: ‘I have come to realise that with my actions, I have abused my employers, my colleagues and the public’s trust in the medical profession.
‘I have displayed a terrible lapse in judgement, inexcusable by whatever personal or prevailing circumstances I might have had. I have repeatedly reflected on my actions, and I wish to state in all honesty, that I am very sorry.’
The scam occurred between August and December 2020 while Landu-Landu was employed as a GP specialty trainee by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
At the time her start date was delayed when she took a period off work due to an undisclosed illness and she received occupational sick pay from the Trust totalling £9,865.52.
But unknown to the health authority Landu-Landu was working locum shifts of between eight and 13 hours at a time for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS.
In one month alone Landu-Landu got £3,971.83 in sick pay and and in another £2,498.41 whilst treating patients at the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston (pictured) and the Covid-19 ward at the Lincoln County Hospital
She was referred to the GMC in April last year following an investigation into her sick pay claims which lasted up to 16 months.
At the hearing Landu-Landu admitted taking the money but said she had been suffering from stress due to ‘recent life events.’
She insisted the conversation she had with her former partner about being dismissed if she worked whilst claiming sick pay took place after the investigation had started.
Landu-Landu claimed she did not think she was on official sick leave at the time but was asked by HR staff at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to get a sick note. She said she knew she had acted wrongly but refuted claims she did not correct her actions when she was made aware.
She later admitted lying to an HR official who recorded Landu-Landu had denied working while claiming sick pay.
She said she had contacted the Trust and commenced repayment, but she had ‘some difficulties arranging to pay’.
In a character reference to the MPTS a colleague known only as Dr B said: ‘She has been honest about her mistake to those around her, and shown that she understands the gravity of it and has also weathered the storm that came with this scandal, from online trolling, to real-world social stigma.
Landu-Landu was working locum shifts of between eight and 13 hours at a time for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (pictured is the Lincoln County Hospital)
‘Please give her a second chance to redeem herself and continue to do what she loves’.
MPTS chairman Ms Sharmistha Michaels said: ‘The Tribunal is satisfied that Dr Landu-Landu has reflected on the gravity of the misconduct, including the impact of that misconduct on her colleagues, the public and the profession and has developed full insight into these matters.
‘She has been regularly making repayments to the Trust and intends to complete repayment early next year.’
The Tribunal also took into consideration that Dr Landu-Landu has worked in her current role in Norway since 2022, initially part time, managing both acute short stay and chronic long stay patients, and that she had informed the Norwegian Medical Licensing Body of her suspension.
Landu-Landu was described as of ‘good medical knowledge’ and well liked by colleagues, patients and relatives, the tribunal heard.
‘The Tribunal is satisfied that there has been no repetition of the misconduct and that Dr Landu-Landu has taken sufficient steps to remediate it,’ added Ms Michaels
‘There is little risk of repetition of the behaviour that was the subject of the October 2023 hearing. This Tribunal has therefore determined that Dr Landu-Landu’s fitness to practise is no longer impaired by reason of misconduct.’
