Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

NHSLatest NewsRecruitment & retentionQualificationsPre-employment screening

NHS boss who lied about degree receives prison sentence

by Ashleigh Webber 24 Jan 2020
by Ashleigh Webber 24 Jan 2020 Oxford Crown Court
Photo: David Parker/Daily Mail/Rex/Shutterstock
Oxford Crown Court
Photo: David Parker/Daily Mail/Rex/Shutterstock

A senior NHS boss who gained his job by falsely stating he had a degree has received a suspended prison sentence.

Peter Knight, 53, served as chief information and digital officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from August 2016 until September 2018.

Background and qualification checks

Thousands could be using fake degrees to apply for jobs

Background screening: Eight key checks employers must make

He pleaded guilty to fraud after he lied about having a degree on his CV. He was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, by Oxford Crown Court this week.

The NHS trust first became aware that he might not have the qualification following an anonymous tip-off to the trust’s chief finance officer and its local counter fraud specialist.

As part of the trust’s duty to make fit and proper persons checks, all of its executive and non-executive directors’ employee files were checked and updated in November 2017. When Knight’s file was checked, however, the trust realised it did not have a copy of his classics degree certificate.

Knight has also been ordered by the court to complete 30 hours of rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work.

According to the trust’s annual reports and accounts, Knight was paid up to £135,000 in 2017-18.

Sue Frith, CEO of the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said the case should act as a reminder of the law and rules that apply to all NHS staff.

“Anyone who obtains an NHS job through lying is committing fraud,” she said.

The trust said it had “strengthened its recruitment process to ensure that it is not possible to avoid confirming the academic qualifications of applicants prior to appointment”.

“The trust also verifies key qualifications with the university, professional body or other institution which awarded the qualification,” it added.

Peter Cleverton, general manager for EMEA at background screening business HireRight, said more organisations were verifying job candidates’ qualifications as an “essential last port of call” in their recruitment processes.

“As this case shows, the potential damage – reputational or otherwise – that undetected CV discrepancies could cause is huge.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“Educational fraud is as issue across all levels of organisations. However, it is always most surprising when uncovered among senior executives, such as Mr Knight, who have been able to forge long and successful careers without getting caught previously,” said Cleverton.

Recruitment and resourcing opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more recruitment and resourcing jobs

Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is a former editor of OHW+ and former HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support.

previous post
Equal pay: Co-op joins Asda in shop-vs-depot tribunal battles
next post
How can schools manage changes to teachers’ pensions?

3 comments

S Evans 26 Jan 2020 - 5:24 pm

He should repay all wages earned on this post, as he received it falsely.

M. Wade 28 Jan 2020 - 9:05 am

Just shows that you can get very far and be successful without a degree. Recruitment processes should consider diversity of thought and not make it mandatory if a degree is not legally required. more weight should be put on experience then a degree as you progress through your career.

Garry 2 Sep 2020 - 2:08 pm

My partners ex husband is a paramedic and bough his A level qualifications online that was needed to allow him to become one. It is time to tell the truth

Comments are closed.

You may also like

UK employers downgrade importance of educational qualifications

29 Aug 2024

GCSE results: concern over regional variations

22 Aug 2024

A-level results are best since 2010

15 Aug 2024

A-level results: employers say soft skills are of...

14 Aug 2024

Social care workforce development plan revealed

11 Jan 2024

Top nine trends for HR leaders in 2024

3 Jan 2024

Apprenticeships: overcoming the functional skills hurdle

13 Nov 2023

Sham training of security officers exposed

3 Oct 2023

Hospitality training and work experience pilot launched

11 Sep 2023

Don’t rush into removing BTecs, committee urges

28 Apr 2023

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+