A NURSE has been accused of a catalogue of blunders, including failing to call a doctor when a patient stopped breathing.

Phillip Abayomi Adewale Aderinola allegedly made a string of errors at Sidcup's Queen Mary’s Hospital between January 2006 and June 2009 but was not present at today's (April 24) Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing.

Aderinola, believed to be in his 50s at the time, began nursing in 1995 and joined South London Healthcare Trust in 2005.

On January 8 2006, he confirmed in a statement he had been approached by a student nurse telling him a patient was not breathing.

He said he examined the patient but failed to respond by calling doctors or a crash team until he notified a nurse 30 minutes later.

The patient was certified dead an hour after.

Giving evidence at the hearing, Ben Mohabeer, who joined the hospital in 2008 as a practice development matron for South London Healthcare Trust said: "I think there should have been more action at that time.

"If that had happened now, there would have been need for retraining."

He added: "Someone who has been qualified for 10 to 15 years should know how to deal with someone who is not breathing.

"He should not need prompting."

Mr Mohabeer started offering support to Aderinola in 2008 when he became concerned about his competence.

He told panel members he put Aderinola on a performance review programme and that he failed to make sufficient improvements.

The hearing heard: "I felt Mr Aderinola had no insight into his lack of ability.

"There were huge gaps in his knowledge and his prioritising skills were inadequate."

He added: "We felt he was quite dangerous to be working.

"I doubted whether he had actually qualified as a nurse."

Other alleged errors at the time include failing to identify a patient had severe heel sores rather than just blisters in April 2009.

During the same month he allegedly failed to safely administer medication by giving tablets to a patient without dissolving them in water.

He resigned from South London Healthcare Trust on June 1 in 2010.

The council has not heard from him since November 2010 and is currently unaware of his whereabouts.

The hearing continues.