Theft and fraud were responsible for more than a third of fitness-to-practise cases last year, a C+D analysis of the 45 public hearings between April 2012 and April 2013 has found.
These offences also attracted the most serious sanctions, as 10 out of the 16 hearings involving theft and fraud resulted in removal from the register.
Legal experts explained that this was because dishonesty cast the most serious doubts over fitness to practise. David Reissner, head of healthcare at Charles Russell, said integrity was seen as a "fundamental element of being a professional".
JMW Solicitors partner Andrea James said dishonesty was seen as potentially a more fundamental flaw than other issues. "It's much more difficult to remediate a character issue such as dishonesty than if you, for example, have a poor record of dispensing errors," she told C+D.
The GPhC's indicative sanctions guidance, which guides fitness-to-practise committees in decision making, names dishonesty as the top aggravating factor in cases.