A young Oxford-trained doctor has been banned from treating patients after he was caught moonlighting at a private cosmetic surgery clinic while pocketing paid sick leave from his £35,000-a-year NHS job. .

Dr. Daniel Coventry, 33, was supposed to be off work at taxpayer expense due to a suspected virus, but instead he was offering facial fillers, thread facelifts and anti-wrinkle injections at a private clinic in Brighton.

Coventry was reported to bosses at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex, after concerns were raised due to the amount of sick leave he was taking.

In 2019, an investigation was launched and investigators found social media posts showing she had performed private aesthetic work at A New You and her own medical practice DC Aesthetics.

Coventry claimed he had not had time to read the NHS policies on sick leave and said he thought there was “no conflict of interest” in carrying out private work while sick and “not registered” to work NHS shifts. .

Dr Daniel Coventry (pictured) was supposed to be off work at taxpayers’ expense due to a suspected virus, but instead he was offering facial fillers, thread facelifts and anti-wrinkle injections at a private clinic in Brighton.

He subsequently left his job in FY2 before officials could give him a final written warning and was reported to the General Medical Council.

Coventry was suspended from medical practice for six months after he was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in December 2019.

The moonlighting occurred over a six-month period between April and October 2018, just a year after Coventry joined Western Sussex NHS Trust.

In the run-up to the ban, he had been working full-time in the private sector at the ‘A New You’ clinic in Brighton, where facelifts cost up to £8,000 and tummy tucks up to £6,000.

A consultant surgeon had explained HR procedures to Coventry and was advised to access the hospital’s ‘StaffNet’ website to read the Trust’s policies regarding sick leave.

In her determination, Tribunal chairwoman Samantha Gray said: ‘Dr Coventry chose not to read the policies despite being pointed in the right direction by the Trust.

“The Court also found that there was an element of deception as Dr Coventry did not tell A New You’s management, nor any of his private clients, that he had been on sick leave.”

Miss Gray added: ‘The Tribunal took into account Mr Coventry’s claim that there had been no financial gain in this case. The Court did not accept this.

‘Dr Coventry would have been paid for his sick leave from the public purse and would also have been paid for his private work.

‘In addition, the NHS Trust may have had to fund more staff to cover Dr Coventry’s absence. tThis further highlights that there is a way to go before Dr. Coventry understands the consequences of his actions.

Coventry was represented by his own father, Stuart, during the Manchester hearing.

Coventry was suspended from medical practice for six months after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found him guilty of serious professional misconduct in December 2019. Pictured: Worthing Hospital where he worked (File image)

Stuart Coventry said: “At first Dr Coventry was clear that he was unaware that he was not allowed to work whilst on paid sick leave and gave evidence to prove his point.

‘Instead of the week-long induction that most FY2 students received at the Trust, Dr Coventry received an informal HR induction and it was implied that he would have to figure things out for himself. This was not enough and therefore Dr Coventry was ignorant of the policies. Additionally, Dr. Coventry’s initial educational supervisor was unable to perform her role due to illness.

‘But he now understands that he should have taken steps to find out about the Trust’s policies. He accepts that it was his responsibility to read the policies as instructed and, if he had done so, he could have asked any questions to an appropriate person about the meaning and application of the sickness policies. She accepts that his previous behavior was against policy and has apologized fully for this.

Mr Coventry added: “At the time of events, Dr Coventry had the mentality of a newly qualified FY2 doctor and was naive and inexperienced. He also wishes to emphasize that there was no intention to deceive or defraud his employer. nor cause you any loss.

‘He did not take sick leave specifically to carry out private work and did not derive any net financial benefit. If he had been deliberately dishonest, he would not have posted about his work on social media. There was no financial benefit to Dr Coventry.

‘Despite this, Dr Coventry accepts that his actions contravened Trust policy. ‘He understands and accepts his naivety and errors in judgment, he has apologized and learned lessons from the events of 2018. There were no clinical concerns in this case and there was never any risk of harm to the public or patients.’

GMC barrister Chloe Fairley told the court: “While this is not a case where patients were at unreasonable risk of harm, there are questions to be asked in relation to the reputation of the medical profession.”

Coventry was reported to bosses at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex, after concerns were raised due to the amount of sick leave he was taking (File Image)

“This was not a single isolated omission or error of judgment that could be quickly rectified, but rather the misconduct involved repeated occasions of dishonest conduct over a period of six months, during which Dr Coventry had had several opportunities in which he I could have been honest.” . However, Dr Coventry has put his own personal and financial interests before his duties to the Trust.

Ms Fairley added: “At present, Dr Coventry has shown no real insight and has yet to take responsibility for his actions. Members of the public have the right to have full confidence in the honesty of a doctor, and the relationship between the profession and the public is based on the expectation that physicians will act with integrity at all times.

“Any idea that seemed to be present in the Trust’s investigation in December 2019, when Dr Coventry stated that he accepted the conclusions of the investigation, has been undermined by his evidence during this hearing, when he claimed that he had said those things simply because “This is a case of deliberate deception in a professional context.”

Coventry studied medicine at Oxford after graduating with a first-class degree in Biology from the University of Brighton.