A NURSE who left a cancer patient covered in sick during the last few hours of his life has been kicked out of the profession.

Muhammed Shakeel, 32, failed to provide basic care to patients during an 11-month stint on the Critical Care Unit at The Christie hospital in 2005.

The nurse was struck off the nursing register after the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found him guilty of misconduct.

NMC chair Anna Robinson said: "The nurse left one of his patients in vomit for two to three hours. We heard that the patient was at the end of his life and his wife was extremely upset by this.

"The nurse was asked at least twice to clean up the patient, but did not do so. This behaviour is totally unacceptable in a nurse.We have heard no evidence of any regret or apology.

"The misconduct was a serious departure from the relevant standards set out in the code of practice. We are sure that there is a continuing risk to patients if he continued to practise. Public confidence in the NMC would be undermined if he was not removed from the register."

Adrianna McDonnell, for the NMC, added: "The patient's wife was highly distressed and approached a hospital doctor following an unsuccessful attempt to liaise with Shakeel regarding the issue.

"The woman was very upset that for the last few hours of her husband's life he had been left covered in vomit."

Responsibility

Mrs McDonnell said on one occasion Shakeel refused to complete handover documentation because he felt 'it was not his responsibility to do so'.

She said the nurse would not accept he had inserted a catheter into a patient's vein despite being told what had happened by a doctor.

Shakeel also 'grabbed' a patient's arm and attempted to remove a dressing without his consent.

Shakeel was asked to undergo a period of supervised practice. But problems continued, notably with his communication, record keeping and professionalism.

A spokeswoman for The Christie said: "Mohammed Shakeel qualified with a nursing diploma in Pakistan and was recruited to the High Dependency Unit with appropriate references in January 2005.

"Shortly after induction it became apparent that there were serious concerns regarding his practice and that he was not performing to a standard expected of a qualified nurse.

"He received intensive training, mentorship and considerable supervision by senior nursing staff, yet he failed to make any improvement. His progress was closely monitored under the trust's capability policy and further measures were put into place to address the significant shortfalls in his practice.

"Despite these attempts Mohammed Shakeel made no progress and was dismissed from the trust within a year of recruitment. Following his dismissal his case was referred by the trust to the NMC."