UK Regulators Suspend 11 Doctors Found Banned Abroad After Losing EU Data Access

William Okanga-Ajwang, 64, continued to practise medicine in the UK after the Poznan Chamber of Physicians stripped him of his licence in January 2021, GB News reported. The European Union's Internal Market Information system circulated notice of the action, but the UK's General Medical Council never received it because Britain had been removed from the platform.

A doctor struck off in France also retained a UK licence under the same arrangement.

The Times investigation identified more than 100 doctors banned elsewhere who had worked in Britain; 11 were later suspended and two were struck off. Nadine Dorries, a former health minister, said patients have no idea whether the doctor treating them was struck off in Europe. She added that the issue concerns people's health and should not be political.

Okanga-Ajwang claimed he lost his Polish licence for unpaid fees, but the Polish regulator declined to confirm the reason to the GMC. The GMC permits overseas-qualified doctors to register even when they declare prior malpractice, and one doctor who initially omitted a sexual-harassment suspension later received a licence on a second attempt.

Since 2021 the GMC has recorded 179 voluntary erasures linked to competence concerns, including 119 integrity cases, 34 involving inappropriate patient relationships, 18 with criminal records and 17 with prejudicial behaviour.

Freedom of information requests showed no correspondence between the GMC and the EU on malpractice data sharing since October 2025. Tory MP Greg Stafford told GMC chief executive Charlie Massey that the Times had managed to obtain the information. Stafford said the UK continues to send disciplinary data to European regulators while receiving none in return.