Posted 26 March 2024 - 14:00
Posted 26 March 2024 - 14:00
News
Nurse suspended after trying to get selfie with footballer
NMC fitness to practise panel found that nurse had breached the code of professional behaviour and patient privacy, and has suspended him for four months
NMC fitness to practise panel found that nurse had breached the code of professional behaviour and patient privacy, and has suspended him for four months
A nurse has been suspended after trying to get a selfie with his ‘favourite football player’, who was a patient at the hospital where he worked.
Nurse Mohammad Nawshad Moosuddee has been suspended for four months by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after he asked the footballer, known as Patient X, ‘if he was doing photos’ and shook his hand.
Nurse lowered their mask to talk to Patient X while COVID-19 protection arrangements in place
Mr Moosuddee, who was working as a scrub nurse in the operating theatre specialising in orthopaedics, admitted lying to colleagues to enter the footballer’s private room following their surgery at the Cromwell Hospital in West London in October 2020.
An NMC fitness to practise (FtP) hearing, which took place earlier this month, heard that the nurse had told fellow staff members he had been present during the patient’s surgery and the sportsman was under his care, when this was not the case.
While in the room the nurse lowered his face mask to talk to Patient X and his wife, who later said they found this distressing as they were concerned about COVID-19 arrangements put in place to protect them at the time.
Mr Moosuddee also admitted getting a selfie with the footballer’s consultant, who had performed the surgery on Patient X, which he was later asked to delete.
Nurse had been ‘extremely naïve’ and apologised for his behaviour
The NMC panel said it took into account all the relevant circumstances, including your admissions ‘the reasons for you wishing to visit Patient X (namely that he was your favourite footballer)’, but found that the nurse had breached the code of professional behaviour and the patient’s privacy.
Initially, when the incident was investigated by the hospital, Mr Moosuddee said in an interview that he believed the incident had been exaggerated as it was a high-profile patient.
‘On reflection… I should not have gone to see the patient. I didn’t realise the gravity of the situation. I am extremely sorry’
Scrub nurse Mohammad Nawshad Moosuddee, who received a four-month suspension by the NMC
However, later at a disciplinary hearing in November 2020, he apologised for his behaviour and said he had been ‘extremely naïve’ and that he was ‘human after all and emotion took over’.
Mr Moosuddee added: ‘On reflection… I should not have gone to see the patient. I didn’t realise the gravity of the situation. I am extremely sorry.
‘My intention was never to be disloyal, to deceive, cause any malice or cause any harm. I did not comprehend the celebrity status. I am extremely remorseful and very sorry’.
NMC panel satisfied nurse’s misconduct was ‘one-off opportunistic act’ in otherwise unblemished career
The panel found that although the nurse had been dishonest, it was a one-off and spontaneous event.
They said: ‘The panel recognises that dishonesty is not easily remediable. However, in this case, it was satisfied that the misconduct is capable of being addressed as the incident was a one-off spontaneous or opportunistic act in an otherwise long and unblemished career.’
Mr Moosuddee has been suspended for four months, with an initial interim order of 18 months to allow for appeal. He has 28 days to lodge an appeal against the NMC’s decision.
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