Colleagues questioned if medic a registered doctor, inquiry hears

Colleagues were so concerned about the clinical abilities of a doctor that they questioned whether he was actually a registered medical practitioner, a fitness-to-practise inquiry heard on Friday.

There were also concerns over whether the doctor was aware of hospital protocols regarding suspected child abuse cases.

Dr Omar Hassan Khalafalla Mohamed is before the ongoing inquiry taking place at the Medical Council.

Dr Hassan faces a number of allegations relating to events that occurred and care he provided while working as a senior house officer (SHO) at the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, Mayo General Hospital and University Hospital Galway (UHG).

Registration suspended

Dr Hassan, whose medical registration has been suspended since March 2015, denies the allegations.

Friday’s proceedings covered Dr Hassan’s time at UHG.

Dr Hassan was employed as an orthopaedic SHO at Galway from January 13th, 2014, for six months.

He was placed on administrative leave on February 21st, 2014, following concerns from colleagues over patient safety.

Consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon John McCabe, from UHG, told the inquiry of a number of concerns that were raised about Dr Hassan early on during his time at the hospital.

Checked register

Mr McCabe told the inquiry that, after Dr Hassan’s first night on call, two colleagues were so concerned about his apparent lack of clinical abilities that they checked on the Irish medical register to confirm whether Dr Hassan was actually a registered doctor.

Mr McCabe spoke of a concern raised by another colleague who observed Dr Hassan assessing a young child who had presented to the emergency department with a long bone fracture.

The colleague believed the fracture to be a non-accidental injury. In cases of suspected child abuse, the protocol would be to admit the child for paediatric and social services.

Admission needed

Mr McCabe said the colleague working with Dr Hassan said they needed to admit the child, and Dr Hassan allegedly responded, “What does that have to do with us?”

In response to this, Dr Hassan told the inquiry on Friday he definitely knew what non-accidental injuries are, and that what he meant by his reply was that they themselves should treat the child and let the paediatric and social services teams handle other issues.

In February 2014, the decision was made to take Dr Hassan off of all clinical duties at Galway. As he deliberated on this decision, Mr McCabe said he “could find nobody in nursing or medicine who could vouch for [Dr Hassan]”.

MrMcCabe said he “would have absolute, serious concerns” about Dr Hassan working in another hospital. “I would never knowingly have Dr Hassan ever work alongside me,” said Mr McCabe.

On Thursday, the inquiry heard Dr Hassan disputes many of the concerns raised by his former senior colleagues at UHG.

Dr Hassan is facing allegations of Professional Misconduct and Poor Professional Performance, with a number of factual allegations relating to those.

The inquiry continues next week.