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PICTURED: Rohncy Kachira has been suspended from nursing for a year (image from LinkedIn)

EXCLUSIVE BY:

Matthew Dresch

Hospital staff “horrified” as nurse gave out IVs without qualification

Hospital staff were “horrified” after discovering a nurse had been administering intravenous medication without the required qualification.

Rohncy Kachira, who worked at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, told a colleague to “shhh” when they called her out in front of a senior nurse.

The trauma and orthopaedic nurse tried to cover her tracks with a series of lies but she has now been suspended from nursing for a year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

She was exposed after a practice development nurse (PDN) spoke to her about her upcoming IV test in the presence of other colleagues. 

It comes just a week after we revealed how another worker gave the potent opioid methadone to the wrong patient at University Hospital Lewisham, sparking an overdose.

A report on the outcome of Kachira’s fitness to practice hearing said: “(A) colleague asked why you were doing that (the IV test) ‘when she was already doing IVs’. 

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“Witness 1 (the PDN) said she responded by saying ‘I hope that’s not true’, at which point you said ‘shhh’ to your colleague in an attempt to get her to be quiet. 

“You then tried to change the subject but then admitted you had been doing IV medication but only under supervision, at which point the colleague said, ‘no you’re not, you’re doing it on your own.’ 

“Witness 1 said that as this was being said you continued shushing your colleague and nudging her in an attempt to try to stop her from talking.

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“She added that two other nurses were there, and they were ‘horrified’ to hear that you had not passed your competency test.”

Kachira acknowledged she had put patients at risk of harm by administering IVs without the required qualification between July and November 2021.

The disciplinary panel heard that she was motivated by wanting to provide patients with timely treatment after previously administering IVs while working at a chemotherapy unit in a Mumbai hospital.

This gave her the “misguided belief” that she was capable of administering IVs.


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Summarising her misconduct, the panel said: “You carried out IV medication when not qualified and you misled your colleagues into thinking you were qualified. 

“Then, when you were discovered, you first attempted to keep your colleague quiet and then, when that failed, lied about being supervised. 

“When that was shown not to be true you lied about being given permission by Witness 1 and when that too failed you lied about your line manager being aware that you were administering IV medication without having passed the test. 

“All this behaviour demonstrated to the panel that not only did you know what you were doing was wrong, but that your conduct in leading your colleagues into believing you were qualified to administer IV medication was deliberate.” 

READ MORE: Lewisham hospital ‘failure’ as dad jumps to death minutes after release

The panel decided against a striking-off order after taking Kachira’s remorse into consideration.

She was suspended from nursing for 12 months in August. 

A Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust spokesperson said: “The Trust continues to regularly share reminders of medication safety, prescribing guidelines and best practice with all of our clinical colleagues. 

“All staff administering intravenous medication are required to complete the appropriate training and be assessed as clinically competent. We accept the findings of the NMC and have no further comment on this case.”

The Trust declined to clarify whether Kachira worked in University Hospital Lewisham or Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. 

The nurse was employed by the Trust between 2019 and 2022 and later worked at Clairleigh Nursing Home, in Bromley.

A director of the nursing home confirmed Kachira had not been offered any more shifts since informing managers about her suspension in August.

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