A “dishonest” doctor who was caught taking drugs for personal use without a prescription has been struck off.

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal heard Dr Tichafasey Mtetwa failed to tell employers at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals about his wrongdoings.

Dr Mtetwa, who worked in oncology, has had his name erased from the medical register.

The tribunal was told Dr Mtetwa received a final written warning after taking medication from a restricted cabinet while working at Royal Derby Hospital in May 2013 because he felt unwell but didn’t want to “inconvenience” his department by going home.

In December 2013, Dr Mtetwa began work as a locum at Isle of Wight NHS Trust. He was placed under investigation in March 2014 due to concerns over his clinical practise, which were later not proved.

Dr Mtetwa was subject to a routine appraisal the following month but he failed to disclose details of his final written warning or investigation because he felt “overwhelmed” by the process.

Conditions were placed on Dr Mtetwa’s registration by the General Medical Council (GMC) in December 2014, which meant his work had to be supervised by a consultant.

Dr Mtetwa was working as a locum at Ipswich Hospital at the time but failed to tell his manager about the conditions because he was “confused by the wording”.

The report states: “The restriction was put in place to ensure that Dr Mtetwa was practising safely and it was important that the trust was aware of it.”

In June 2016, Dr Mtetwa took a job as a locum at Colchester Hospital and again didn’t ensure his work was clinically supervised.

The tribunal found his had been “dishonest” and “misleading”, but accepted there was a “misunderstanding on Dr Mtetwa’s part as to what he should be doing to comply with the conditions”.

The GMC assessed Dr Mtetwa’s performance in 2016, which was found to be unacceptable in six areas including assessment of patients’ condition, clinical management and record keeping.

The report states: “The tribunal was satisfied that Dr Mtetwa’s unacceptably low standard of performance had the potential to put patients at unwarranted risk of harm and had the potential to bring medical profession into disrepute.”

The tribunal determined Dr Mtetwa’s fitness to practise was impaired by reason of misconduct and deficient professional performance.

Dr Mtetwa denied he had ever been a risk to patients or the public.