GUARDIAN NG
A medical inquiry has heard that a Nigerian doctor Francis Megwa, who was employed as a senior house officer at University Maternity Hospital Limerick knew “near nothing” and was unable to take blood samples and insert intravenous drips and had to ask what an obstetrician was.
Megwa is accused of two counts of poor professional performance over a period spent working in UMHL between July 9, 2018, and August 14, 2018.
A sitting of the Irish Medical Council’s fitness to practise (FTP) committee was told that Megwa had failed to demonstrate the skills, knowledge and competence expected of a non-consultant hospital doctor working in the area of obstetrics and gynaecology.
Irish Examiner reported that the evidence heard by the inquiry said that his skills were assessed as being equivalent to those of a final-year medical student.
Counsel for the IMC, Neasa Bird BL, said Megwa had failed to show his basic competency in taking a patient’s clinical history, in diagnosing symptoms, inserting cannulas and in prescribing common medication.
He was also charged with being unable to give a clear history about a pregnant woman who had presented at the hospital with vaginal bleeding or estimates her level of blood loss as well as failing to recommend appropriate treatment for her.
The inquiry heard Dr Megwa had very limited experience working in hospitals and only as an unpaid intern, observer, and volunteer since qualifying as a doctor in Romania in 2015.
Dr Megwa had described himself as a senior house officer in his job application to the HSE because he felt it was the “most appropriate term.” However, the IMC stressed that it was making no allegation that Dr Megwa had attempted to mislead anyone about his qualifications or experience.
Former chief clinical director of UL Hospitals Group, Dr Gerard Burke, said he had issued Dr Megwa with an oral warning and confined him to an observer role after receiving complaints about his competence after just one week of working in the hospital.
Dr Burke said he felt obliged to refer the matter to the Irish Medical Council over concerns that he would end up working in another hospital in Ireland…
