Nurse sanctioned for bad notes after death of patient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital

Ronaldo Golimlim was not present as he was handed a 12-month conditions of practice order by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) at a virtual hearing.

A conditions of practice order can be issued to a nurse whose actions can be addressed through re-training or assessment.

The sanction places Mr Golimlim under constant supervision while working as a nurse and obliges him to inform the NMC about the type and location of his work.

He must also have monthly meetings with a supervisor to discuss his record keeping and how and when to escalate concerns about a patient’s deteriorating condition.

The sanction comes after a person died at Stoke Mandeville Hospital after being in Mr Golimlim’s care. Patient A deteriorated towards the end of Mr Golimlim’s night shift and passed away on the morning of 25 March, 2019, shortly after the handover of his shift.

During the investigation interview, Mr Golimlim said he had asked the nurse in charge for help and to call the outreach and medical team.

He also said he “had the initiative” to ring the surgical team, which was due to see the patient, but he was unable to get through.

A panel found that Mr Golimlim “failed to keep proper records” during the two days leading up to Patient A’s death. It was proved that clinical notes he wrote were not dated, timed, signed, printed with his name, legible or in the correct order.

Between March 24 and 25 it was also found that he failed to record Patient A’s deteriorating condition or that their care needed to be escalated and/or that it was escalated. The panel did not prove that Mr Golimlim failed to make and/or record a decision on observation frequency.

Its decision read: “The panel was of the view that Mr Golimlim had responsibilities and failed in those responsibilities in that he made numerous recording errors over the course of both night shifts. The panel determined that his poor record keeping put his patients at a real risk of harm.”

The panel said the nurse “has not expressed remorse for his misconduct”.

He has not worked at Stoke Mandeville Hospital since March 2020.