Midwife Receives Caution For Poor Care, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 21 Jan 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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A 29 year old registered midwife from Bradford, West Yorkshire has been given a 5-year caution following a hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in London.

Ms Rachel Cromar was employed as a Community Midwife by Airedale NHS Trust when she failed to pay sufficient attention to concerns expressed by the parents about their baby's health.

An independent panel of the NMC Conduct and Competence Committee heard evidence proving that Ms Cromar did not act appropriately when the parents expressed concern on more than one occasion over the length of time their baby slept and that they had difficulty waking her to feed her. Ms Cromar was also found guilty of failing to maintain adequate documentation relating to her visits to the baby and failing to draw up a plan of care. On more than one occasion she did not maintain appropriate hygiene standards by failing to wash her hands before handling the baby and she caused further distress to the family by terminating bereavement support in an inappropriate manner during a telephone conversation.

Commenting on the outcome of the hearing, NMC spokesperson Leila Harris said,

"The independent panel reached this conclusion having heard evidence which proved each of the charges brought before it. The panel noted that this was an isolated case and that Miss Cromar had shown insight into her shortcomings and taken rehabilitative steps. The panel was satisfied that she had a positive history as a dedicated midwife and in light of all the evidence brought before them, felt that a caution order for a period of five years was appropriate to the seriousness of the allegations."

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. The primary purpose of the NMC is protection of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct. Currently the number of registrants exceeds 682,000. The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (The Order), sets out the NMC's role and responsibilities.

The independent panel is selected from a pool of individuals appointed by the Appointments Board. They come from a variety of backgrounds and are not NMC Council members, nor do they sit on any committee of the Council.

Nursing and Midwifery Council