MORGIA: BLUNDERING NURSE DIDN’T LEARN FROM MISTAKES
A Filipino nurse who failed to recognise that a patient with a broken ankle was dying admitted he has not learnt from his mistakes.
The man passed away during an overnight hospital stay when Victor Morgia did not notice that his condition was worsening rapidly.
He did not raise the alarm after recording low oxygen levels in the man, who was injured when he fell from a train, it is alleged.
Morgia had already been warned for giving potentially fatal doses of the wrong drug to another patient, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.
He is said to have made the blunders while working at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon and was dismissed from the trust on April 14, 2010.
But when he applied for a job at Down House Nursing Home also in Devon, Morgia neglected to tell his prospective bosses of his employment history.
He admits this and said he would never omit to disclose such information again.
Morgia was then forced to concede this was not true when he was giving evidence.
‘The reason you did not want to tell them about the dismissal is because: “If I told them, then I know I won’t get the job”,’ said Mr Weston.
Continuing to read from a document of ‘reflections’ that Morgia wrote on November 22, he added: ‘Next time I will tell my new employer about my dismissal and the reasons I have been dismissed.’
Mr Weston told the panel that Morgia is currently the subject of another referral to the NMC, from his most recent employers, Cann House in Tamerton Foliot, Plymouth.
He explained that the allegations are similar to those that the nurse is currently facing and include another alleged failure to inform home bosses of his 2010 dismissal, and escalating patient concerns.
‘So despite a document on November 22, 2012 as part of your reflections saying you will tell employers of your dismissal, you had another opportunity and you didn’t.
‘You haven’t learnt from your mistakes have you?’ asked Mr Weston.
‘This situation, I will say I obviously didn’t,’ replied Morgia.
After the patient was admitted to the hospital on March 5, 2009, Morgia came recorded oxygen saturation levels and a breathing rate that should have led him to alert senior medics, the panel was told.
But no further observations were taken and the man, known as Patient A died.
Morgia had already been given a formal warning after confusing a patient’s painkillers in November, the hearing was told.
Following the death of Patient A, Morgia was placed under supervision and moved to an endoscopy ward.
He was sacked after a series of errors, including carrying out procedures he was not qualified to do.
Morgian argued his recent diabetes diagnosis and his depression were responsible for his failings.
Morgia arrived from the Phillipines in 1999, and completed his retraining to work in the UK in 2000.
Morgia denies not prioritising the medical care of Patient A, and arranging for him to reviewed.
He also denies giving another patient the wrong drugs, claiming that he was ‘tricked’ into signing the drug chart.
The nurse admits a number of other charges against him, including failing to observe Patient A after 10pm.
If found guilty of misconduct he could be kicked out of the profession.
The hearing, in central London, continues.
