A Somerset nurse has been struck off after a series of mistakes involving patients’ blood and medications.

Keisha Magnetta Pinnock worked as an agency nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, based within its acute medical ward.

She was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council after a panel concluded she had “put patients at serious risk of harm” and that her “fitness to practice remains impaired”.

The hospital trust has stated, however, that no patients had been put in danger by Ms Pinnock’s actions.

All the charges against Ms Pinnock relate to her actions on the acute medical ward on August 9, 2016.

She was accused of failing to provide Patient A with a blood transfusion, as well as incorrectly documenting that one of her colleagues had stopped administering the patient with sodium bicarbonate (which is used in hospitals to reduce acidity in the blood).

She went on to administer sodium bicarbonate to Patient A intravenously with metronidazole – an antibiotic used to treat everything from bed sores to pelvic inflammation.

Ms Pinnock advised a healthcare assistant to check Patient C’s blood sugar and ketone levels every four hours – instead of the hourly checks which should have been in place.

She further failed to complete or properly document charts for eight other patients.

Ms Pinnock was not present for the NMC panel hearing in London, having stated on a previous occasion that she would “rather die than face another panel”.

The panel noted that she “showed no remorse, failed to remediate her misconduct and deflected blame to others” when she had previously appeared before the NMC in 2018.

Despite stating she wanted to return to nursing and was considering further university training, Ms Pinnock had not responded to any attempts to contact her since May 2019.

In light of this, the panel concluded that Ms Pinnock should be struck off, arguing it was “the only appropriate and proportionate option available” in light of her actions.

Hayley Peters, chief nurse at the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said staff had acted quickly to ensure no harm came to patients in Ms Pinnock’s care.

She said: “It is regrettable when a healthcare professional loses their registration, but we welcome the outcome of this fitness to practise hearing undertaken by the NMC.

“As soon as concerns were raised, we began an investigation and notified the agency that we would no longer use Ms Pinnock’s services.

“The patients in her care did not come to any harm, and the unit on which she worked quickly addressed any issues with the patients’ care.

“As with NHS organisations across the country, we have a robust set of standards in place for the employment of staff to ensure they are fully qualified and suitable for the position they have applied for.”