Nurse incorrectly gave baby's vaccines, says panel

George King
News imageNMC handout A sign which reads "Nursing and Midwifery Council", engraved on a beige, stone column.NMC handout
The Nursing and Midwifery Council initially suspended Mary Folake Olanrewaju before deciding she should be struck off

A nurse accused of incorrectly administering a baby's vaccinations will be struck off after she was deemed to pose a risk to patients.

Mary Folake Olanrewaju was working as a locum nurse practitioner at Toddington Medical Centre, in Bedfordshire, when questions were raised about her conduct.

Despite being given opportunities to "prove herself", a disciplinary panel said she showed "no evidence" of wanting to remedy her actions nor make changes to how she worked.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) ruled her fitness to practise was impaired and there would remain "a risk to the public" if she continued in the profession.

'Inadequate'

Between August and October 2019, Olanrewaju allegedly told a patient they did not need an MMR vaccine for a trip and incorrectly administered medications.

On one occasion she was accused of wrongly trying to inject Denosumab directly into a patient's stomach and incorrectly administered Zoladex to another patient through their thigh.

Denosumab is a treatment for osteoporosis and secondary bone cancer, and Zoladex is a type of hormone therapy.

The panel heard she also gave a baby their immunisation vaccines too early and, on unspecified dates, took one or more smear tests which were deemed "inadequate".

Later, she failed to send a personal development plan or evidence that she had completed a medicine administration course to the NMC.

All the allegations were found to be proved by the panel.

They concluded that the only way to "adequately protect the public" was to ban her from the profession. The NMC said Olanrewaju did not submit any documents or attend the hearing, which took place on 2 April.

The order will take effect upon the expiry of a current suspension order, which ends on 7 May.

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