Nurse at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital struck off as didn't know where appendix was
A nurse who didn't know where in the body the appendix was has been struck off by the profession's watchdog – after asking for his nursing career to be ended.
Gurminder Toor, a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, was also unable to calculate correct drug dosages and made drug administration errors.
He was previously suspended from nursing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which regulates the profession, over his 'rudimentary failings'. But an NMC panel has now decided he should be removed entirely from the register.
The panel said Mr Toor qualified as a nurse in 2010 and started working at the hospital in February 2011. He resigned within a year, in January 2012, after a number of 'fundamental deficiencies' came to light.
These included him not knowing where in the body the appendix is located, or what an appendectomy – to remove the appendix – was. He also made errors with medication and the NMC previously found that, despite 'intensive support' from the hospital, he was unable to achieve the competence required. More than 70 charges of incompetence were found proved against him and he was suspended.
At a hearing in London on January 27, which Mr Toor did not attend, the panel reviewing his suspension received a letter from him.
He said that, as he had been unable to work as a nurse since being suspended, he had taken no steps to improve his skills and no longer wanted to remain in the profession.
Announcing its decision, an NMC spokesman said: "The panel concluded that Mr Toor's failings were of a rudimentary, wide-ranging and serious nature, and in those circumstances a suspension order would not adequately protect the public or the public interest.
"Accordingly, the panel concluded the only appropriate and proportionate sanction was a striking-off order."
