A doctor has been found guilty of poor professional performance and professional misconduct on multiple counts at a fitness to practise inquiry.
Dr Omar Hassan Khalafalla Mohamed faced a series of allegations relating to time he spent working at the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, Mayo General Hospital and University Hospital Galway.
Dr Hassan was found guilty of 28 counts of poor professional performance and six counts of professional misconduct. He denied the allegations throughout the proceedings.
He did not turn up in person for the decision but was in contact via telephone.
Sanctions against Dr Hassan (30) will be determined at a later date but his medical registration has already been suspended.
The inquiry, held over 11 days, heard a number of former colleagues express grave concern regarding Dr Hassan’s clinical abilities.
Clinical abilities
Two former colleagues at University Hospital Galway were so concerned about his clinical abilities that they looked on the Irish medical register to confirm whether he was actually a registered doctor. A senior colleague at Galway also told the inquiry that Dr Hassan’s level of competence was so low that “someone off the street” would do a better job than he did.
The inquiry also heard of a number of bizarre incidents that took place while Dr Hassan, originally from Sudan, was working as a senior house officer at the three hospitals.
Consultant Odhran Murray, who worked with Dr Hassan in Galway, previously told the inquiry of an instance in which the doctor mistook an x-ray of an ankle for an image of an elbow during a training session with colleagues.
“There was an audible gasp in the room,” said Mr Murray, who said he would expect a medical student - let alone a senior house officer such as Dr Hassan - to know the difference.
Scrubbing up
Mr Murray also recalled an instance in which he and Dr Hassan were scrubbing up in preparation for theatre, so that they would not cause contamination during surgery. He said he was surprised to see Dr Hassan re-contaminate his hands by touching a non-sterile area while scrubbing up, as he would expect a medical student to know how to do it properly.
“I lost all confidence in him when I saw that,” said Mr Murray. “This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Aiden Devitt, who worked at University Hospital Galway while Dr Hassan was there in early 2014, told the inquiry Dr Hassan was taken off unsupervised duty after his first weekend on call, after several colleagues raised concerns about his clinical abilities, and patient safety.
Mr Devitt told Dr Hassan during the second week of the inquiry: “I got the strong sense you genuinely did not understand how basic your deficiencies were.”
“I don’t think you know what it means to be a doctor,” he told the inquiry.
Dr Hassan worked for brief periods of time at the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise in 2012, Mayo General Hospital in 2013 and University Hospital Galway in 2014.
In his closing statement to the inquiry last week, Dr Hassan said he “totally rejected” the majority of the allegations. For several others, he claimed he had “no recollection” of the alleged incidents.
He argued that this case has had a “devastating effect” on him and his health.