The Australian Federal Police is looking for an Indian man after he has been accused of falsely holding himself out as a medical practitioner.
Shyam Acharya practised as a junior doctor in New South Wales for eleven years after securing a registration with the Medical Council of New South Wales in 2003.
Mr Acharya allegedly stole the identity of an Indian doctor before coming to Australia and eventually becoming an Australian citizen.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has also been made aware of the case.
Mr Acharya worked in four public hospitals in Gosford, Wyong and Hornsby as a junior doctor under the name Sarang Chitale from 2003 to 2014. He faces a penalty of $30,000.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency informed NSW Health in November last year that it was investigating Shyam Acharya for holding himself out as a medical practitioner.
The AHPRA has laid charges against him for a breach of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, the reports.
There was concern about once incident where he was involved in treating a patient. NSW Health said Mr Acharya’s involvement was only as a part of a team that worked under the supervision of other clinicians.
"The root cause of this was false identity to get into the country in the first place," said NSW Health’s deputy secretary Karen Crawshaw.
The department confirmed the documentation that got him registered was legitimate documentation of a doctor.
"We now require written references and contact directly referees of doctors seeking employment," Ms Crawshaw said.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the situation was shocking.
"It is quite disturbing that a foreign national could get through our border protection with a false passport and ID based on an Indian citizen who had trained as a doctor," The ABC quoted him as saying.
Mr Hazzard said he would raise the matter at the national level to see if the checks and balances are in place.
