GP boss guilty of misconduct over pension funds

The former practice manager of a GP surgery has been banned from acting as a company director after failing to pay more than £75,000 into her employees' pension funds - despite deducting contributions from their wages.

Sonia Simkins, 54, from Dudley in the Black Country, ran Hawes Lane Surgery in Rowley Regis for nine years until it closed suddenly last July after a bankruptcy order was made against Ms Simkins.

An investigation by the Insolvency Service (IS) found she had been taking pension contributions from her staff's wages but had not paid them into the NHS Pension Scheme.

The Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) said all patients had been moved to other practices.

At the time of its closure, Hawes Lane Surgery had more than 4,000 registered patients and 10 employees.

The IS said that between August 2019 and December 2020 and June 2023 and June 2024, Ms Simkins should have paid £76,868 into the NHS pension fund for her staff, more than £25,000 of which was deducted from salaries as staff contributions. The remainder should have been paid as employer contributions.

However, only £1,722 in total was paid.

The IS said investigations by the official receiver had been unable to determine what had happened to the money.

On 3 April, Ms Simkins accepted a bankruptcy restrictions undertaking (BRU), which allows a bankrupt person suspected of misconduct to accept restrictions without needing to go to court.

She will be barred from managing a limited company for a period of seven years, as well as from taking out a loan of more than £500 without disclosing the restriction.

She will also not be allowed to work in some senior roles in the NHS.

Senior official receiver at the IS, David Chapman, said: "Sonia Simkins deducted pension contributions from her staff's wages but failed to pay more than £75,000 into the NHS pension fund, while the closure of Hawes Lane Surgery had an immediate impact on staff and patients in Rowley Regis.

"Following an Insolvency Service investigation by the Official Receiver, Simkins accepted her misconduct."

In a statement, the Black Country ICB said: "The ICB were made aware of the closure [of the surgery] on Wednesday 24 July.

"Clinical services were temporarily moved to Portway Family Practice to ensure patients had ongoing access to local GP services, and arrangements were made to relocate all patients to a different GP practice in their local area.

"Hawes Lane Surgery is now closed and the contract for the practice has ended."

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