MARTIN: BLOOD BUNGLING SCIENTIST KEEPS JOB

A hospital scientist who refused to release blood for a pregnant woman after she collapsed with a major haemorrhage was allowed to continue in her career.

Zedita Martin delayed carrying out simple tests to check the woman’s blood type for an hour after she was admitted to A&E at the Pinderfield hospital in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

When asked to send type ‘O’ blood for the patient, which can be given to all blood types, she refused, even after being told the pregnant woman had collapsed.

Health Professions Council panel chairman Derek Adrian-Harris said her actions during the incident in April 2008 had resulted in ‘a risk to the life of the patient’.

‘The patient did not receive a prompt blood transfusion of some form either type specific or O negative blood if necessary because Ms Martin failed to respond in a timely manner to the urgent request from the A&E clinicians treating Patient A,’ he said.

‘Despite being informed that the patient had collapsed, Ms Martin continued to question the clinician’s request for blood.’

He added: ‘So far as protection of the public is concerned the registrant posed a risk which at times could have been serious and the panel is not satisfied that this risk will not be repeated.’

A few weeks after the incident, Martin spent an hour chatting on the phone when she should have been carrying out a blood test on an emergency patient.

She later claimed that she had refused to authorise the test because she had believed the patient, named John, was pregnant, the hearing was told.

Martin had admitted that she initially refused to supply type specific blood for the pregnant woman, who had suffered an ectopic pregnancy, and was responsible for a delay in getting blood to her.

She also admitted failing to escalate her decision not to comply with Patient A’s Doctor’s request for blood to the on-call consultant.

Martin was cleared of failing to respond to calls from Accident and Emergency during the incident on 26 April 2008 after finding she ‘did respond to some calls’.

he was found to have failed to inform her line manager about the incident the following day.

Martin had failed to authorise a blood test result on 16 May 2008 within the required one hour time frame, the panel ruled.

She had admitted using the trust telephone for a personal call when she should have been working.

The biomedical scientist also admitted failing to respond to her pager on 4 July 2008 and 17 -18 April 2009.

She was found to have unfinished work in April 2009 and again on 28 April 2009, and had admitted attempting to claim for an on-call shift of 18 July 2009 when not entitled to do so.

Mr Adrian-Harris said that the panel had not accepted Martin’s explanations, branding her evidence as ‘inconsistent’.

‘The proved facts amount to more than merely isolated incidents but show a pattern of behaviour by Ms Martin which continued during the trust investigation,’ he said.

‘Ms Martin has shown a lack of insight in respect of the particulars which were denied, but have been proved.

‘Furthermore, her explanations provided during the trust investigation were not entirely credible and somewhat disingenuous.’

However, he said they had decided to allow her continue working under conditions, which include a ban on working out of hours when the incidents occurred.

‘Although the Panel has concerns about Ms Martin’s ability to remedy her failings it has concluded that a conditions of practice order would be sufficient to protect the public and allow her an opportunity to address the serious shortcomings in her practice,’ said Mr Adrian-Harris.

The conditions, lasting two years, also require her to undergo appraisals and produce research on the correct response to a serious haemorrhage.
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