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A radiographer at a Dublin hospital who specializes in treating cancer patients struggled to take basic X-rays and was rated the competence of a “sophomore,” as heard in a fitness-to-practice survey.
Tafadzwanashe ‘Edison’ Denhere, a radiologist at St Luke’s Hospital in Rathgar, admitted four counts of poor performance at a hearing in Dublin.
Investigation by the fitness-to-practice committee of CORU, the regulatory body for healthcare and social care professionals, heard that St Luke’s still offered Mr. Denhere a senior radiography position in 2018 despite being aware of serious concerns about your competition.
Mr. Denhere, who graduated from Zimbabwe in 2007, began working as a senior radiographer in nuclear medicine at St Luke’s in April 2016.
He is currently working as a technician at the hospital after restrictions were placed on his registration as a radiographer.
Mr. Denhere admitted two charges of failing to demonstrate the skill and / or knowledge necessary to safely practice as a radiographer between September 23, 2017 and February 4, 2018, while on duty in the diagnostic imaging department of St Luke.
CORU attorney Eoghan O’Sullivan BL said there were concerns about how Denhere performed the X-rays.
A third allegation was that Mr. Denhere, during the same period, engaged in the practice of radiography on his own while working on the watch list in circumstances where he knew, or should have known, that he did not have the skill adequate knowledge, competence or experience.
He was also accused of failing to ensure that a 40-year-old patient’s pregnancy and lactation responses were recorded prior to administering a radioactive injection in May 2018.
The committee was informed that Susan Neill, the then manager of radiography services at St Luke’s, contacted CORU in October 2018 about her concerns about Denhere, including the slowness of her work.
Ms. Neill recalled how Denhere once took 75 minutes to take an X-ray that should only have taken five minutes.
In February 2018, Ms Neill said that she had seen X-rays taken by Mr Denhere on a weekend when he was working unsupervised, which concerned her as there were problems with the images taken of three out of four patients.
The investigation heard a subsequent review of all X-rays taken by Mr. Denhere while working unsupervised and resulted in the indictments before the fitness-to-practice committee.
Mr. Denhere was permanently removed from the hospital’s on-call list following a review, and has had no role in the hospital’s imaging department since that time.
Ms. Neill said she did not believe that the HSE-run hospital’s plans to retrain Mr. Denhere were appropriate, as she felt that a qualified radiographer “should be competent to perform basic X-ray examinations.” He said that St Luke’s management had gone ahead with Mr. Denhere’s interview for a senior vacancy, despite his objection and prior to a scheduled clinical evaluation to be conducted at Mr. Denhere in August 2018.
Subsequently, Mr. Denhere failed the St Vincent University Hospital assessment, which expressed “great concerns” about his proficiency, which he rated as “a sophomore” level. He recommended that he not be allowed to work unsupervised.
The hearing continues today.
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