Surgeon Sudip Sarker to pay £337k to Worcestershire hospital

Disgraced surgeon Sudip Sarker appeared via videolink from prison at Worcester Crown Court on Friday where he was told he would be stripped of assets to recover the cost of the salary he should never have received in the first place.

The 50-year-old, serving a six year jail sentence for fraud, was ordered to pay the compensation to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, the organisation he deceived and whose patients his lies put at risk.

Judge Robert Juckes QC previously said the trust, which runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, had paid out nearly £2 million to settle the claims of patients he operated upon and the trust's reputation had also been damaged.

At the proceeds of crime application (POCA) hearing the fraudster appeared gaunt and far slimmer than he had during his two week trial last year. Wearing a yellow t-shirt in contrast to a smart suit, he appeared impassive throughout the hearing.

The surgeon, previously of Botany Road, Broadstairs in Kent, was jailed for six years by judge Juckes after being convicted of fraud in February last year.

Sarker had denied making a false representation to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust so he could secure the £80,000 a year job at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital, sister hospital of Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Mr Sarker worked at the trust for 14 months until his suspension in October 2012 which led to his later dismissal.

The jury agreed that Sarker, who had a higher mortality rate in terms of the patients he operated on compared to two other Alex surgeons, exaggerated his experience in laparoscopic surgical procedures in his interview.

During the hearing prosecutor Jacob Hallam QC, who appeared via videolink from the Old Bailey in London, placed the benefit figure (the salary Sarker received from the trust) at £347,214 which took into account gross compound interest since the fraud (the benefit figure would otherwise have been £327,214).

Mr Hallam said: "On that fraud, the Crown suggest it is the salary he got as a result of the lie and the defence suggest it's rather different to that."

Sebastian Winnett, defending, argued that Sarker had taken a modest pay cut to work for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

"Did he benefit? He says not" said Mr Winnett.

He also argued that the majority of the work Sarker undertook during the period of his criminal conduct was done properly and that he should not be deprived of the entirety of his wages, only those he earned from the work he was prohibited from doing.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright said: "I should proceed, should I not, on the basis that Mr Sarker would not have had the position at all if he had not committed the fraud?"

Mr Hallam said this was correct, arguing that the evidence 'was essentially that he got the job because of the things he said that weren't true'.

However, Mr Winnett argued that the salary Sarker received had not been invested in capital and had been dissipated in ordinary living expenses.

As as a result he said there was nothing to show that Sarker had benefited from the change in the value, describing the £20,000 difference in the two figures as 'a fairly significant adjustment to the overall value of the benefit'.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright said he would take a fair and pragmatic approach and set the figure on the basis that a person receiving a healthy salary could be expected to spend half and invest half, setting the benefit figure at £337,214.

Sarker had available assets totalling £562,875 including a £420,000 house in Queen's Gate in South Kensington, London.

He also has houses in Bemersyde Avenue, Glasgow and Botany Road, Kent.

The judge made a confiscation order of £337,214 and Sarker was given three months on his release from prison to pay or face a default prison sentence of three years and eight months.

Judge Cartwright said: "I direct that the confiscated amount be paid as compensation to the trust in question, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust."

Sarker was also ordered to pay a contribution towards costs of £5,000 which also must be paid within three months of his release from prison.

During the original sentencing hearing Mr Hallam said doubts were raised about Sarker's ability when he was observed and an operation was stopped. Sarker was later suspended.

In passing sentence last year Judge Juckes said Sarker had a high level of culpability because he had been in a position of trust, carrying out operations that put people's lives at risk.

Judge Juckes said at the time: "You told highly significant lies. You grossly exaggerated your experience."

A spokesperson for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said on Friday: “We are aware of today’s judgement and welcome the courts findings in our favour.”