A DOCTOR who fraudulently worked night shifts at Basildon Hospital has been jailed for three years after pleading guilty to defrauding the NHS out of more than £268,000, following an NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) investigation.

Nigerian-born Richard Akinrolabu, 61, of Orpington, Kent, received his sentence at Woolwich Crown Court on 4 November 2025, having previously pleaded guilty to all four counts of Fraud by False Representation at the same court on 3 September 2025.

Akinrolabu had been employed as a trust grade specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology by the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) in London, which forms part of King’s College Hospitals (KCH) NHS Foundation Trust. A trust grade specialist registrar is a type of resident doctor, formerly known as junior doctor.

Between October 2018 and December 2021, he worked on-call and night shifts at three additional trusts, despite informing his employer that he was unfit to do the same work for them. He worked these shifts whilst on sick leave or on reduced duties from King’s College Hospital.

As well as paying Dr Akinrolabu his full salary, the trust had to employ locums to cover these shifts.

In November 2021, KCH received information stating that Akinrolabu had been working night shifts at Basildon Hospital. Investigations by the trust’s local counter fraud team found that he had worked a number of on-call shifts there.

The trust and NHSCFA investigators then obtained witness evidence which revealed that Akinrolabu had worked at Princess Alexandra Hospital, East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust and Mid-South Essex NHS Foundation Trust whilst on reduced duties from KCH.

In June 2022, the local counter fraud team interviewed Akinrolabu under caution, during which he gave a “no comment” response. Following further investigation by the NHSCFA, he was subsequently charged with four counts of Fraud by False Representation.

In sentencing, His Honour Judge David Miller said: “You lied to occupational health, your colleagues and your employer.

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“The public doesn’t expect doctors to lie for personal gain.”

Ben Harrison, Head of Operations at the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said: “This case demonstrates a clear and deliberate abuse of trust by an NHS professional who knowingly breached the conditions of his employment for personal gain.

“By working additional on-call and night shifts, despite being unfit to do so, Akinrolabu defrauded the NHS of substantial funds that should have supported patient care.

“The NHS Counter Fraud Authority will continue to ensure that those who seek to exploit the health service for their own benefit are identified and brought to justice.”

In 2006 Akinrolabu was cleared of offering to carry out an illegal abortion on his married lover in a Sussex bedsit.

All other charges against Akinrolabu, then aged  42, a senior house officer at St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester, were also dropped. They had included acting indecently, inappropriately and unprofessionally.

A General Medical Council panel found that the woman, known only as Mrs A, gave a version of events that was littered with “inconsistencies”.

The doctor admitted having had an affair with the woman since December 2004.