Romanian doctor who ‘struggled to put on surgical gloves’ faces professional misconduct charges

A former paediatric surgeon struggled to put on hospital gloves and was unable to write clinical notes, a Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry has heard.

Dr Mihai Anton from Romania was suspended just 10 days after he began work as a senior house officer at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin in January last year.

Dr Anton faces 14 charges of professional misconduct and poor performance related to his brief stint at the hospital, which ran from January 14-24, 2013.

It was alleged that on his first day, he left early, without permission, and also took long work breaks.

The inquiry heard claims that he had difficulty in putting on surgical gloves, did not know how to scrub up properly for theatre, and did not understand basic instructions. It was claimed he contaminated his surgical gown by touching it.

It was alleged that he was unable to correctly prescribe paracetemol and was unable to correctly write clinical notes on patient charts.

In addition, it was alleged that Dr Anton — who had six years of clinical experience in Romania — obtained consent from parents for the wrong procedure on their children. Hospital authorities stressed none of the procedures went ahead and that there had been no safety issues regarding patient care in the 10 days Dr Anton was working there due to the high level of supervision of his activities.

Dr Anton was not present at yesterday’s inquiry hearing in Dublin but correspondence from him was outlined in which he said he felt “harassed” and that there may have been some communications issues.

He said he had “nothing to declare about my activities in Ireland” and added that he would never return to the country.

The inquiry was told that Dr Anton had provided an application and associated references, and then been interviewed by phone. Hospital management said this was unusual but they had been facilitating Dr Anton in conducting the interview by phone. The HR manager at Crumlin Hospital, Joan Troy, said such interviews are now carried out using Skype.

One witness, Dr Suzanne McMahon, said Dr Anton was the “worst” senior house officer she had ever worked with, and that, on a scale of one to 10, he rated as a “zero”.

The inquiry will hear more submissions today.