Apprentice contestant and doctor struck off after 'walking out' of shift at Coventry hospital

A medical tribunal also heard Dr Asif Munaf made a series of offensive comments on social media



A former Apprentice contestant and doctor acted ‘unprofessionally and without care for patients’ when he walked out of a shift at Coventry Hospital, a tribunal has ruled.

Dr Asif Munaf, who appeared on the Apprentice as a contestant in 2024, has been struck off the medical register.

A tribunal heard he made a series of ‘seriously offensive’ comments from his X account as well as walking out of a shift at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trusts in January 2024.

He had been on a locum placement at the hospital as a cardiology specialist registrar, the tribunal heard.

The doctor posted: “9/11 wasn’t an inside job. Let’s call it for what it really is. A Jewish job.”

Dr Munaf, registered under his full name Mohammed Asif Munaf, did not attend the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing and was not legally represented.

At a previous hearing he denied his posts were antisemitic and added they were “not befitting of someone as educated as myself “and were said in the heat of the emotion”.

MPTS chairwoman Kate Kirwin said Dr Munaf’s conduct on social media was “sustained and repeated” and that he continued making discriminatory posts on X after the matter was first brought to its attention.

She said a post about “ovens” was “deliberately shocking and provocative by denying/minimising the holocaust and making explicit reference to death and beheaded babies”.

Dr Munaf showed “a complete disregard and a lack of respect” for the function of the regulator when he deliberately ignored its requirements and issued a sick note when he was not permitted, she said.

The MPTS also ruled Dr Munaf acted “unprofessionally and without any apparent care for patients or respect for colleagues” when leaving the locum placement.

Ms Kirwin said: “All of these behaviours indicate an arrogant disregard for patients and colleagues, the views of others and the regulator.

“Such behaviour, individually and taken as a whole, is unbefitting a registered doctor and indicative of the fact that Dr Munaf’s character may be unsuitable to practice in the medical profession, in part due to the determination of a deep-seated and ongoing attitudinal issue.

“The tribunal considered that there was no evidence of insight or even reflection in Dr Munaf’s case, and no evidence of any attempt to remediate or prevent future recurrence.

“The seriousness of the facts found proven and associated ongoing risk to public protection mean the effect of Dr Munaf continuing to hold registration would undermine public confidence in the profession.”

Following the decision, a spokeswoman for the General Medical Council said: “There is no place for antisemitism, sexism or misogyny in medicine, and we will always seek to strike off doctors for such conduct.”

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/apprentice-contestant-doctor-struck-after-33237180