A NURSE has been struck off after a “catastrophic” mistake resulted in a baby’s death.
While working as a neo-natal nurse at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow Craig Wilson failed to activate a humidifier to help a premature baby breathe.
His error was exposed shortly after when a colleague discovered the infant – born 13 weeks early in August 2013 – was cold.
The baby died the same day from hypothermia.
At a hearing in front of the Nursing and Midwifery Council panel on Tuesday Mr Wilson was struck off the register.
The panel concluded that Mr Wilson posed an ongoing risk to patients. Details also emerged of an incident 16 months later during which the nurse failed to give medicine to a baby and then lied about the mistake.
The panel said: “Your acts and omissions caused serious harm to an extremely vulnerable baby which had catastrophic consequences for both the baby and the baby’s family.
“Some 16 months later you behaved in such a way that could foreseeably have resulted in harm to another extremely vulnerable baby.
“On both occasions you sought to dishonestly conceal your serious failings in patient care. This leads the panel to conclude that you continue to pose an ongoing risk to patients.”
Mr Wilson, who has been a qualified nurse for 13 years, admitted to “causing or contributing” to the baby’s death after forgetting to turn on the humidifier.
He administered continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment to the infant before going for his morning break at around 10.30am.
A nurse who was keeping an eye on the baby in his absence, noticed that the child was cold to touch and that the humidifier had not been switched on.
When he returned from his break, Mr Wilson said: “F***, I forgot to turn it on.”
The nurse took immediate action and the baby was re-incubated but died at 6pm that evening from hypothermia and multiple organ failure.
At the hearing on Tuesday Mr Wilson said his shift was “busy and stressful” when the incident happened.
It was also found proved that in February 2015 at the Southern General Maternity Unit in Glasgow he signed Baby B’s medication chart to indicate that Ranitidine had been given when that medication had not been given.
The NMC panel concluded: “After having taken into account all the evidence before it, the panel has determined that your behaviour is such that it is fundamentally incompatible with you remaining on the NMC register.
“In all the circumstances, the panel is accordingly satisfied that the only appropriate and proportionate sanction which is sufficient to protect the public and satisfy the wider public interest is a striking-off order.”
