Specialist banned over limb mix-up
A LIMB specialist has been banned from treating patients after a mix-up with a West Lothian pensioner's prosthetic leg left him with two left feet.
Malcolm Griffiths fitted a left foot to Patrick Morrison, 76, from Bathgate – a right amputee – and failed to notice for eight months despite two check-ups between November 2006 and June 2007.
Mr Morrison's wife Alexia discovered the mistake when she took off his protective sock five months after his operation.
It was also noticed that the senior prosthetist had given Mr Morrison a size eight instead of a size nine.
Mr Morrison lost his right foot after it became infected with MRSA following an operation to amputate his big toe.
Mr Morrison said: "My wife and I got a big surprise because you just don't expect this kind of thing to happen in this day and age."
A disciplinary hearing of the Health Professions Council was told Mr Griffiths was prepared to admit all 16 charges against him, including the allegations surrounding patient Mr Morrison's care. The charges also related to the treatment of 11 patients over a three-year period during Mr Griffiths' time at Edinburgh's Astley Ainslie Hospital.
The regulatory body's Conduct and Competence Committee, sitting in Edinburgh last week, agreed to Mr Griffiths' own request to have his name removed from the professional register.
Committee chairman Colin Allies said: "The panel is satisfied that it is appropriate and proportionate to make the consent order as requested."
Mr Griffiths, who was not present at the hearing, was sacked by NHS Lothian in 2008.
Mr Allies added: "He has admitted the charges against him. The panel has agreed the issue on the basis that the registrant has had the benefit of legal advice and it is his choice to be removed from the register."
He added that the removal ensured protection of the public as Mr Griffiths would not be able to practise.
The panel also stressed that if Mr Griffiths decided to reapply to practice as a prosthetist in the future, he would be treated as if he had previously been struck off from the register.
Mr Griffiths had been employed as a prosthetist at the Smart Centre at the Astley Ainslie Hospital. He was charged with a series of allegations which took place between 2005 and 2008 ranging from persistently losing work to taking excessive lengths of time to complete jobs.
Griffiths was sacked by NHS Lothian after the Mr Morrison's false leg mix-up and faced accusations about his care of a total of 11 separate patients.
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Friday 18 May 2012
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