A MAN who posed as a doctor and charged hundreds for cures has been convicted of deception. Gurmukh Singh treated several patients for the skin condition eczema.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard 48-year-old Singh from St John's Road, Old Trafford, claimed to be qualified in a form of medicine called Ayurveda which is a traditional Indian system of medicine, recognised by the World Health Organisation.

But his claims were revealed as false after an investigation was launched by the Oldham Primary Care Trust in 2005, Greater Manchester Police and the Medicines Health and Regulatory Authority.

The investigation found four families had taken their children to "Dr Singh" for help with eczema and had paid him more than £2,000 for creams he said he imported from India. Tests showed the cream contained antihistamines and prescription only steroids.

On at least one occasion, a man who paid £800 to Singh for treatment saw his eczema get much worse. In parts, his skin went black and peeled off.

When Singh was arrested at his home in May last year, he said he only kept a small amount of the money he charged and sent the rest back to India.

Investigations revealed that some of those treated had seen an improvement in their condition. But they had been overcharged by someone unqualified to treat them.

Deception

Singh admitted four counts of deception.

Detective Sergeant Lindsey Curry said: "This man abused one of the most sacred positions of responsibility in a community. He may well have had genuine intentions to help people, but he was unqualified to do so, and massively overcharged for his services. In some cases, the conditions of the people who went to see him actually got worse, and all of them ended up well out of pocket. As well as claiming disability benefit, Singh was earning hundreds of pounds out of his patients. The amount of medicine he had in his house suggests that he had no intention of stopping." A spokesperson for the Ayurvedic Practitioners Association (APA) said the case illustrated the need for statutory regulation of those practising traditional medicines as soon as possible.

He said: "Fortunately, all professional Ayurvedic associations in this country have been actively engaged in the process of statutory regulation, which has Department of Health backing and is currently anticipated to commence in 2009. "Once implemented, the regulation of Ayurveda and other traditional medicine systems by the statutory council will ensure that only fully qualified professionals who abide by strict codes of conduct and ethical practice have access to protected practitioner titles.

"This will provide safeguards for the UK public, so that such unfortunate events will not occur in future. Until 2009, voluntary regulation bodies like the APA ensure that their members are adequately trained and also adhere to appropriate codes of professional practice."

Singh is to be sentenced in January.

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