A man purporting to be a psychiatrist was hired by the Waikato District Health Board using legitimate documents and referees belonging to another man with the same name.

The shocking revelation comes as a ministerial inspection is launched into the board's embattled mental health services where the man worked for six months from January to July 17, 2015.

A man who falsely claimed to be a psychiatrist and was hired by the Waikato District Health Board has appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Saturday. Photo: File

The foreign national at the centre of the case appeared at the Hamilton District Court on Saturday charged with dishonesty. He was granted interim name suppression.

The alleged fraudster was working for the health board as a consultant psychiatrist when concerns were raised about his "professional ability" and he was fired.

It is understood the accused used a legitimate doctor's former colleagues as referees to be contacted to vouch for his work.

The real psychiatrist works in Naperville, Illinois.

The man also provided documents which included the real doctor's medical degree from Deccan College of Medical Sciences in India.

It is understood that the accused is a medical doctor but not in the field of psychiatry.

The Medical Council of New Zealand vetted the man before granting him a provisional vocational registration so he could get a job with the health board.

Council chairman Andrew Connolly admitted there were concerns raised about the man's documentation after the alleged offending was revealed.

"The medical council's concern is that the doctor may have obtained registration he was not entitled too," Connolly said.

"We believe the documents we have are legitimate documents. The question we will need to answer is … was he entitled to use these documents; if not, how did he obtain them and what steps do we need to take as a council to prevent anyone else attempting the same thing."

Connolly would not comment specifically on the referees and documents the council received from the accused.

He said when overseas doctors apply for positions in New Zealand they are closely scrutinised.

"We look at who they are, what their training is, where they've been and how they've performed in other jurisdictions."

The council do not accept photocopies and require original certificates.

Waikato DHB chair Bob Simcock said an investigation is underway in the recruitment process used by the health board.

"It appears it has been quite sophisticated use of another ID. The Medical Council obviously was satisfied with the evidence that [the person] was suitable for practising under supervision at least," he said.

"Certainly I would expect our organisation to carry out as thorough checks as are possible and I'll look forward to finding out whether there were any weaknesses in that process ... At the moment I've got no reason to believe that there were."

But the dangers of having an unqualified psychiatrist treating patients could have proved fatal, a mental health clinician, who declined to be named, said.

The clinician described the breach of trust by the man as "absolutely monumental" given the power he had to prescribe drugs.

"General Practitioners will often refer to a mental health service because they are unsure of the best treatment for their patient and want a psychiatrist's expert opinion," he said.

"Quite frankly, this 'psychiatrist' could have been prescribing anything - and anything can be dangerous if not properly monitored."

The type of drugs usually prescribed in the mental health sector have the ability to be fatal, a concern given the man's alleged lack of credentials.

"All antipsychotics can cause Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome which can be fatal, many drugs can cause serious allergic reactions which can be fatal, and Clozapine requires frequent monitoring because of a possibility of agranulocytosis (a severe deficiency in the number of white blood cells which can lead to fatal infections), many drugs such as benzodiazepines can be addictive."

The man will reappear at the Hamilton District Court in August facing a charge of deception and without claim of right obtained control over a pecuniary advantage, namely employment at Waikato DHB.

HEALTH BOARD TRACKING ALLEGED FRAUDSTER'S PATIENTS

Waikato District Health Board chief executive Dr Nigel Murray. Photo: File

The Waikato DHB doesn't not know how many patients were prescribed medication by a man alleged to have used fraudulent documents to get a job as a psychiatrist.

The alleged fraudster worked for the health board for six months as a consultant psychiatrist when concerns were raised about his "professional ability" and he was fired.

As a psychiatrist the man had the authority to prescribe medication.

Health board chief executive Dr Nigel Murray, in a statement, said the board is reviewing the man's work but is yet to determine the number of prescriptions given out by the accused.

He did say that the board had all of the records of the patients the accused consulted with.

The board identified 100 patients seen by the man; 75 of those were treated under a team-based plan and 25 needed to be followed up because they were seen in one-on-one appointments.

Murray said the board had managed to contact half of those affected, a number of them have received follow up consultations.

Prior to employment, the accused was vetted twice, once by the Medical Council of New Zealand then by the board.

Under medical council's policies, if an overseas doctor passes the criteria he will be granted a provisional registration and will be supervised by a senior practicing doctor in the same field.

"The Waikato DHB and Medical Council will continue to review their processes for verifying the status of clinical applicants," Murray said.

'FAKE' PSYCHIATRIST PROMPTS INSPECTION

Waikato District Health Board chairman Bob Simcock. Photo: File

A ministry specialist has been brought in to inspect the Waikato DHB's mental health services after a series of incidents in the area.

The news comes just days after it emerged a former employee, who worked as a psychiatrist, used fake documents to get the job.

The inspection will be led by Ministry of Health director of mental health Dr John Crawshaw, who has the power to look into anywhere in the hospital where psychiatric treatment is given under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

A small team assembled by Crawshaw will help him with the inspection, which is expected to take up to eight weeks.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman announced the move on Monday afternoon, saying he wanted the public to have high confidence in Waikato DHB mental health services.

DHB chair Bob Simcock felt there had been "a bit of a campaign recently to undermine public trust in the organisation" and welcomed the review.

"I have no reason to believe that there are any significant problems in the operation at all but quite obviously anything that the director of mental health discovers we'll be very interested to respond to," he said.

"We welcome somebody having a look at it and just getting clear outcomes about how the service is being run."

The inspection comes after a string of incidents that have put the spotlight on Waikato DHB mental health services.

Former patient Nicky Stevens was found dead in the Waikato River in March after leaving the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre on unescorted leave.

The following months brought two further cases of people leaving without permission.

Deputy Labour leader and health spokesperson Annette King said something had clearly gone wrong with Waikato's psychiatrist appointment.

"We cannot expose vulnerable New Zealanders to bogus people," she said.

"You may well find that bogus information was provided that was difficult to find anything wrong with. Really smart people can do devious things without you knowing and all your processes in the world might not stop that."

But the latest "fake" psychiatrist wasn't the first in New Zealand, she said.

Credential checks were tightened in 2004 after Linda Astor✓ lied about her work experience to gain psychiatric jobs with Hutt Valley Health and Nelson Marlborough Health.

King said mental health was under-funded and prioritised and New Zealand had a serious shortage of psychiatrists.

But that wasn't an excuse for hiring those who didn't have the right qualifications.

Labour list MP Sue Moroney had called for an independent review of the service on Monday morning, before Coleman's announcement.

"You can't just keep shoving these issues under the carpet because the people relying on this service are just far too vulnerable," she said.

Repeated mistakes indicated systemic issues, she said, so a review could sort out the culture and systems.

- Stuff