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A midwife who used to work in Guernsey has been struck off, after initially being suspended following the death of a mum on Loveridge Ward in 2016.
Francette Anne Passave was working at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in 2016 when a woman died just hours after giving birth.
She is believed to have left the island soon after the fatality and has not worked for health services locally since then.
At the time she was investigated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which looked into 34 alleged errors.
In early 2018 Miss Passave was suspended for 12 months, which was extended for another six months earlier this year. That suspension order has now been reviewed and she has been struck off.
Miss Passave will be struck off from 3 November, when her suspension ends. That means she will no longer be able to work as a midwife or nurse due to her 'misconduct'.
That misconduct was found proven based on a number of failings during her care of the woman who passed away on 7 May 2016. Those failings included:
Pictured: Other failings and more details on the above are listed in the NMC findings report HERE.
The NMC decision notice is listed on its website and is available for the public to read in full here.
The NMC said; "In reaching its decision, the panel was mindful of the need to protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and to declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and performance.
"The panel decided that Miss Passave’s fitness to practise remains impaired."
There is nothing to suggest Miss Passave has been working as a midwife since the fatality in Guernsey, nor is there anything to suggest she had intended to return as work in the field.
The panel said it was "mindful that Miss Passave admitted all of the charges found proved at the substantive hearing. The panel noted that there had been no further communication or information from Miss Passave in relation to her failings. It therefore had no evidence of developed insight or attempts to remediate her midwifery practice."
However, there was enough concern expressed by the last panel that Miss Passave was "liable to repeat matters of the kind found proved" and "the panel therefore decided that a finding of continuing impairment is necessary on the grounds of public protection.
"The panel had borne in mind that its primary function was to protect patients and the wider public interest which includes maintaining confidence in the nursing profession and upholding proper standards of conduct and performance. The panel determined that, in this case, a finding of continuing impairment on public interest grounds is also required.
"For these reasons, the panel finds that Miss Passave’s fitness to practise remains impaired."
She will be struck off with effect from 3 November, 2019.
Pictured: Miss Passave worked for HSC in 2016, at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, but has not worked in the island since then.
Miss Passave has not worked in the island since 2016, but HSC has said it 'notes the findings of the recent NMC hearing at which a midwife who worked for HSC in 2016 was struck off'.
Addressing the death of the mother in 2016, HSC said:
"HSC does everything it can to minimise the risks in healthcare and in giving birth but very sadly tragic incidents occur. HSC would, once again, like to take this opportunity to publicly express its deepest sympathies to the family who suffered this tragic loss.
"We thoroughly investigate all serious incidents and as a learning organisation we learn from serious incidents and change practice to ensure patients are given the safest possible care. On occasions it is necessary to ask the NMC to investigate a nurse or midwife’s practice. This midwife was removed from the register as she did not engage in the NMC process and did not show she had learned from the mistakes she made. Continuous learning and insight is one of the most important qualities professionals can have to keep patients safe."
HSC has also highlighted the current status of its maternity services and wants to assure all parents and parents-to-be of the high standard of care available in the island.
"Women and their families who are using maternity services should be reassured that Guernsey provides an excellent standard of maternity services which is comparable to the service that a district general hospital in the UK would provide. The outcome of maternity services in Guernsey are as good as those in the UK. The maternity unit provides 24/7 obstetric consultant cover to ensure that women requiring medical help during their labour have access to a senior doctor in a timely manner. A senior midwife is on duty 24/7 to coordinate the maternity service, both in the hospital and the community. There are now excellent midwifery staffing levels with at least 4 midwives on duty at any time. There is an on-call system in place so that more midwives can be called in when the unit is busy.
"In 2019 Guernsey’s maternity services secured Blue SCAPE status following 3 years of successful SCAPE audits. SCAPE, which stands for 'Safe, Clean and Personal Everytime' is a nationally-recognised, independent audit. The audit looks at a wide range of care criteria including the environment, leadership, safety and service user engagement."
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