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| Mercy Ngozi Okeke |
A MIDWIFE has been found guilty of
misconduct by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), it has been reported. Mercy
Ngozi Okeke had denied the allegations that are said to have taken place at
Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup between January 3 and February 24, 2006,
claiming they were fabricated by colleagues.
Ms Okeke had been accused of nearly
strangling a newborn to death with its umbilical cord when she failed to cut it
after birth. Other allegations included failing to carry out vaginal exams
correctly, failing to use vital heart monitoring equipment and injecting two
patients in the wrong place.
She now risks a ban from the medical
profession. "Ms Okeke was not competent to carry out competent or safe
midwifery care and demonstrated a lack of knowledge, skills and judgement
across a broad range of practice areas which include the core skills of
midwifery," panel chairman Evis Samupfonda said.
The alarm was raised by concerned
colleagues who said Ms Okeke was not able 'to act safely and react to clinical
change', as one colleague wrote in an email to supervisors. Ms Okeke who worked
at two hospitals, Newham University Hospital, in Plaistow and King George
Hospital in Goodmayes, Essex, is said to have failed an assessment testing her
knowledge and had poor communication skills with fellow colleagues as well as
patients and their families.
An interim ban on the nurse will
continue until the panel meets again to decide on what sanction to impose.
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