Nurse handed 12-month suspension over care failings

Moras Masih worked at the hospital from September 2018 until November 2022, including on Hutton Ward and the Uphill Stroke Unit.

Following a lengthy fitness to practise hearing, a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel found his fitness to practise was impaired because of a lack of competence and misconduct.

After the review concluded on October 15, he has now been handed a 12-month suspension order, as well as an 18-month interim suspension order to cover an potential appeal period.

Mr Masih had previously been suspended for 6 months back in 2014, after a separate NMC investigation found he'd held a patient's head back and "forcibly administered medication" without consent, bent a patient's finger back during a blood test, and poured water on a patient's head to wake them up.

The panel said Mr Masih's failings demonstrated "repeated deficiencies across a broad range of fundamental nursing competencies" and covered areas including patient assessment, clinical judgement, medication management and safe care.

While it found no evidence that patients had actually been harmed, the panel said "the potential for serious harm was high".

Used needles left and unsupervised medication rounds

Among findings relating to the Uphill Stroke Unit in Weston, the panel found Moras Masih failed to properly confirm a patient's identity before administering medication in April 2022, because the patient did not have a wristband.

On the same day, it found he left used needles unattended in trays.

The panel also found that the following month, he "knowingly acting outside of [his] competencies" by completing an unsupervised medication round, despite understanding he should be supervised.

In August 2022, the panel found Moras Masih was "forceful" in administering a drink to a patient. Observations from a colleague at the time stated he "rushed the patient when giving him water, causing him to start coughing", and had to be told twice to slow down.

During the same drug round, he "insisted" that an incorrect prescription was correct despite being told otherwise.

A record said he was preparing to give Phosphate Sandoz instead of Prosource Plus Fluid before being stopped, and "did not seem to understand [the] implications" of unnecessarily administering the incorrect medicine.

Other proved allegations from his time on the stroke unit included leaving a patient at high risk of falls unattended despite being told to remain with them, and leaving the bed rails down for a patient at high risk of falling.

In another incident, Mr Masih failed to complete a require malnutrition assessment for a patient despite being asked to do so. A colleague noted that Mr Masih had claimed that the weighing scales weren't working, but when she checked the scales they were working fine.

An allegation that he attempted to remove a canvas sheet beneath another patient using an incorrect technique was also proved. A fellow nurse told the panel she intervened, because pulling the sheet in the way he did could cause skin damage and hurt the patient.

Patient left in "obvious distress" as nurse went on break

The panel also considered incidents on Hutton Ward at Weston Hospital, dating from February 2019.

It found that, after repositioning a patient's oxygen nasal prongs, Moras Masih failed to assess whether the patient was in respiratory distress, complete clinical observations or hand the patient over to another medical professional before going on a break.

Evidence accepted by the panel described the patient as being in "obvious distress", and was later moved to intensive care.

A statement from a colleague who intervened said: "Her eyes were wide open, and she couldn’t even talk. I called nurse Moras back; he returned to the bed space; repositioned the nasal prongs and walked away.

"I further checked and positioned the nasal prongs... I had knelt down to reassure the patient I would help her."

The panel also found Moras Masih administered intravenous medication while he had not been signed off as competent to do so, and inappropriately delegated tasks to junior colleagues including connecting patients to cardiac monitors and collecting urine samples.

Nurse previously suspended for "forcibly administring medication"

The panel heard Moras Masih had previously been suspended for six months following separate NMC proceedings in 2014.

The 2014 suspension came after a separate review found Mr Masih had "held [a patient's] head back and forcibly administered medication", poured water on a patient's head to wake them up, and bent a patient's finger back when taking a blood reading.

While he initially told the latest hearing he had never previously faced a finding of misconduct or lack of competence, he later said he had forgotten the earlier proceedings.

The panel "did not accept, as plausible" that he couldn't remember being suspended before, and considered it "highly unlikely" he could have forgotten this, noting his "lack of candour" as an aggravating factors when deciding his sanction.

The panel considered training undertaken by Moras Masih, including 85 certificates dating from 2024 to 2026, but said there was no evidence demonstrating that learning had strengthened his practice in a clinical setting.

It ultimately found his insight remained limited, and decided "the risk of repetition is high".

The panel also considered banning Moras Masih from nursing permanently, but concluded his conduct was "very serious" but "not fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the register", and decided a 12-month suspension was the appropriate sanction.

In response to the NMC's decision, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust City and Weston Hospital Director of Nursing, Sarah Dodds, told the Weston Mercury: “We took appropriate action in relation to this former employee when these matters were raised and worked closely with the NMC throughout their proceedings.”