Coroner raises concerns over doctors' long hours after consultant death

Getty/Philip Openshaw

By Ben Mitchell, PA Media

A coroner investigating the death of a consultant has raised concerns that doctors who carry out both private and NHS work do not have to notify both employers of their working hours.

Dr Naeem Ahmed, 50, died of alcohol and fentanyl toxicity after being found in an on-call room in Poole Hospital following a night shift, an inquest has heard.

The consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine had organised his work schedule to serve his contracted hours together, to enable him to take extended periods away from work to care for his parents in Pakistan.

His wife, Laura, said that he had not self-harmed or spoken of suicide, but said the doctor was “exhausted mentally and physically” in the months before his death.

Ahmed was on his ninth 13-hour night shift in a run of 11 at the time of his death in June 2025, the Independent reported.

He had a private practice alongside work at the hospital run by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD), according to the newspaper.