Doctor found guilty of poor professional performance

A doctor recruited to work at the State’s largest children’s hospital who it was alleged did not know how to scrub up properly for theatre and had difficulty putting on gloves, has been found guilty of poor professional performance at a medical council fitness to practise inquiry today.

However, Dr Mihai Anton, a former paediatric surgeon from Romania who worked at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin for a short period last year, was found not guilty of professional misconduct.

He faced a total of 14 allegations of professional misconduct or poor professional performance. The inquiry ruled that 10 allegations in relation to Dr Anton were proven as to fact and constituted poor professional performance.

Among the findings of poor professional performance against him were a finding that:

- He was unable to take proper medical notes and was unable to order a kidney, electrolytes and urea test for a child.

- He contaminated the sterile field during theatre when he touched the gown of a colleague.

- He obtained parental consent for the wrong type of hernia operation on a child.

- He was in a room in the day surgery unit that was deemed out of bounds as it posed an infection risk, with a young patient and their family despite a large sign outside the room which read “This room needs to be cleaned, please do not use.”

Dr Anton was also found in breach of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 for failing to respond to a notice seeking information in relation to the events which formed the basis of the allegations.

Dr Anton did not attend today's hearing or the first day of the fitness to practise inquiry yesterday. In an email read to the inquiry yesterday he said he "had nothing to declare about my activities in Ireland" and that he will never return to Ireland.

The fitness to practise commitee's decision will now be forwarded to the board of the Medical Council which will decide on what sanction to impose on Dr Anton.

The inquiry heard yesterday Dr Anton was recruited by Crumlin hospital after a telephone interview. He commenced employment in Crumlin on January 14th 2013 and was suspended from normal practice on January 24th after concerned were raised about him by surgical staff.