This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6976173.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Doctor gives fatal insulin dose | Doctor gives fatal insulin dose |
| (41 minutes later) | |
| A 92-year-old man died of a heart attack after a junior doctor gave him a drugs overdose, an inquest has heard. | A 92-year-old man died of a heart attack after a junior doctor gave him a drugs overdose, an inquest has heard. |
| Walter Kenneth Johnston was injected with 100 times the correct dose of insulin by a junior doctor at Belfast City Hospital. | Walter Kenneth Johnston was injected with 100 times the correct dose of insulin by a junior doctor at Belfast City Hospital. |
| Dr Muzaimin Ahmad claimed he did not know how to treat him. | Dr Muzaimin Ahmad claimed he did not know how to treat him. |
| He used the wrong syringe to administer the drug in the early hours of 25 February 2005. Dr Ahmad no longer practises in the UK. | He used the wrong syringe to administer the drug in the early hours of 25 February 2005. Dr Ahmad no longer practises in the UK. |
| Belfast Coroner's Court heard he had only been working at the hospital for three weeks. | Belfast Coroner's Court heard he had only been working at the hospital for three weeks. |
| A letter from the doctor read out in court said he believed that "one unit of insulin was equivalent to one millilitre". | A letter from the doctor read out in court said he believed that "one unit of insulin was equivalent to one millilitre". |
| "I have not received any previous instruction in the handling of insulin," it said. | "I have not received any previous instruction in the handling of insulin," it said. |
| Dr Ahmad, who studied at Queen's University Belfast, also said he was "unfamiliar with the heart monitor machine". | Dr Ahmad, who studied at Queen's University Belfast, also said he was "unfamiliar with the heart monitor machine". |
| 'Lacking confidence' | 'Lacking confidence' |
| He also admitted feeling nervous and lacking confidence as it was his first night shift. | He also admitted feeling nervous and lacking confidence as it was his first night shift. |
| Expert witness Professor Brew Atkinson said Dr Ahmad should have received schooling in insulin at least twice while he was training. | |
| Mr Johnston, from Rathmore Manor in Newtownabbey, had undergone surgery an aneurysm in his knee. | |
| Deputy State Pathologist Dr Alistair Bentley said that although he was elderly and had a number of life-threatening conditions, he did not believe he would have died at that time had he not received the overdose. | Deputy State Pathologist Dr Alistair Bentley said that although he was elderly and had a number of life-threatening conditions, he did not believe he would have died at that time had he not received the overdose. |
| Coroner John Leckey said Dr Ahmad was "someone who recognised that they had limitations, felt isolated, felt nervous and uncertain about how to do the task that was allotted". | Coroner John Leckey said Dr Ahmad was "someone who recognised that they had limitations, felt isolated, felt nervous and uncertain about how to do the task that was allotted". |
| "Yet with all that, (he) did not take what seems to be the sensible step of asking someone more senior, be it a senior nurse or a senior colleague, that what he proposed to do was the proper way to do it," he added. | "Yet with all that, (he) did not take what seems to be the sensible step of asking someone more senior, be it a senior nurse or a senior colleague, that what he proposed to do was the proper way to do it," he added. |
| The hospital said it had taken a number of steps to ensure its procedures had been improved. | |
| Mr Johnston's son, Stephen, said he had been heartened by the trust's actions to prevent a similar incident happening again. |