Doctor recommended detox for youth who had four bottles of beer, inquiry hears

A senior hospital doctor recommended medically detoxing a youth who admitted consuming four bottles of beer, a Medical Council fitness to practise inquiry has been told.

Dr Mohamed Elhassan is accused of professional misconduct and poor professional performance arising out of his work as a locum at St Columcille’s Hospital Loughlinstown in south County Dublin, over a weekend from July 6th, to July 8th, 2013.

The fitness to practise inquiry heard Dr Elhassan had incorrectly noted the 17-year-old had consumed four bottles of vodka, a situation which his supervising consultant Dr Rachel Doyle told the inquiry would have almost certainly have rendered the youth dead.

The patient’s records had shown he had a history of collapsing which would not have been related to the amount of beer he had consumed, Dr Doyle said.

Dr Elhassan is facing 10 allegations arising from his weekend at St Columcille’s’s including that he failed to display an ability to perform medical procedures, prescribe appropriate dosages of medicines, adequately examine patients, keep adequate notes, respond to patients’ symptoms or identify and respond to a medical emergency.

Placement dropped from CV

He is also accused of dropping a placement at Cavan/Monaghan Mental Health Services from his curriculum vitae when he knew, or ought to have known, that the hospital had concerns about his practice.

Dr Doyle said she had met Dr Elhassan at the start of his shift at the hospital at 12pm on Saturday July 6th, 2013, at which he said he had a master’s degree in coronary care.

But she quickly became concerned at his performance and that his notes had failed to adopt usual hospital practise of noting the name, age and gender of patients at the top of the notes page.

In addition she said his notation of symptoms was a cause of concern. She said use of the term “body swelling” could cover swelling of the mouth and tongue which could indicate anaphylactic shock which could be fatal, or it could mean swelling of the legs which might indicate something less serious.

She said he was assigned a role as locum senior house officer which would involve reviewing patients who had been initially seen by a doctor in the emergency department at Loughlinstown.

However Dr Elhassan’s notes seemed to involve an almost verbatim copy of the initial patient assessment undertaken by the emergency department doctor, she said.

Dr Doyle said Dr Elhassan’s notes copied the emergency department doctor’s words so closely they even indicated a patient should be seen by the senior house officer, when Dr Elhassan was actually the senior house officer.

‘Concerns about his prescribing of medicine’

Dr Doyle said Dr Elhassan did not seem to be familiar with medical terminology or practises.

She also had concerns about his prescribing of appropriate dosages of medicine, she said. She concluded he was unemployable by the hospital.

The inquiry was told by Neasa Bird, instructed by Lyn McCarthy of McDowell Purcell solicitors, it was the Medical Council’s case that Mr Elhassan had removed a period of work at the Cavan/Monaghan Mental Health Service from his curriculum vitae, because of that hospital’s concerns about his performance. She said the hospital had not felt able to give Mr Elhassan the usual reference.

Suffering from anxiety

Dr Elhassan who is originally from Sudan, qualified in Romania before coming to Ireland in 2013, and leaving in 2014. Speaking by telephone from Saudi Arabia where he is currently based, he told the inquiry that he had been suffering from anxiety during his time in Ireland.

He said he was “passing through very bad conditions and couldn’t work properly”. He said when he arrived in Ireland he had anxiety and depression and “there was no one there to support me mentally or spiritually”.

“I had a condition” he said.

“I was very new in the hospital, I was very new in Ireland. The language is very difficult for me because I was very new in Ireland. You have not a full idea of my situation” he said.

The inquiry is continuing.