A MIDWIFE has been struck off after calling a patient "stupid" and leaving her "absolutely terrified".

Anne Renwick Facchini was struck off this week after three mothers made complaints about being in her care while she was employed as a staff midwife at Crosshouse Hospital’s Ayrshire Maternity Unit.

Facchini, 61, retired in 2013 after the complaints came to light and on Tuesday the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) upheld two of the three women's complaints against her and determined that her "fitness to practice was impaired as a result of misconduct".

The NMU heard evidence from 'Patient C' who had come into Facchini's care between March 2 and 3, 2013. The woman said Facchini had broken her waters without her consent causing her pain and discomfort and then failed to administer appropriate pain relief, on March 4, then administered morphine without consent.

The hearing was also told that Patient C had alleged that "Mrs Facchini asked her partner to set up the gas and air and fix up the bed and insert a cannula into Patient C’s hand. Patient C said that Mrs Facchini was unable to work the monitoring belt of the fetal monitoring machine and therefore could not get an accurate trace of her baby’s heartbeat. Patient C said that Mrs Facchini referred to her partner as “doctor” and wanted him to assist in everything she did. Patient C said that her partner is a car salesman with no medical background."

According to the same woman, Facchini was also "abusive" throughout her labour, failed to discuss her birth plan and did not keep her informed.

The hearing was told: "She said that Mrs Facchini kept calling her “stupid” and asking her what was wrong. Patient C said that when she was pushing she struggled to hold her legs in the position Mrs Facchini was forcing her into so Patient C’s step-mother offered to help but Mrs Facchini told her step-mother to sit down and not touch her. Patient C said that Mrs Facchini kept making repeated, inappropriate comments to her step-mother about how she had never given birth and would not know how to help Patient C.

"Patient C said that Mrs Facchini made her feel “absolutely terrified” and she said that she thought midwives were supposed to be nice."

Another woman - "Patient B" - complained that while she was having her baby between May 9 and 10, 2011, Facchini also broke her waters without consent, causing her "intensive" pain and did not adjust the birthing pool to the appropriate temperature.

Facchini, who has been a registered midwife for 27 years and a registered nurse for 29 years, was suspended from duty in September 2013 after the allegations came to light. She retired shortly afterwards.

Following the women’s complaints, an audit was launched and looked at 157 case notes in total.

Of those, 20 were identified for further review and, from this sample, 14 were discovered to raise concerns about Mrs Facchini’s practise as a midwife in relation to care and documentation while six were unproblematic.

The concerns raised in the audit covered a wide range of midwifery practice including care planning, consent, documentation and no labour birth plans completed on admission.

Despite the fact Facchini had retired following the complaints, the NMC pursued the case because “retirement does not usurp the function of a panel and that Mrs Facchini, although she has retired from one post, is, in fact, free to go and apply for another nursing post if she wishes."

Following the blunders the NMC panel struck Facchini off after she demonstrated an attitude problem and failed to show remorse.

The panel noted: "Some of Mrs Facchini’s clinical failings could be remediated, however, it also considered that there were aspects of her behaviour and attitude, such as asking someone if they were stupid, that would be difficult to remediate. The panel noted that it had no evidence from Mrs Facchini regarding remorse, remediation or insight....Neither could the panel be satisfied that Mrs Facchini’s decision to retire from midwifery was recognition of her failings.

"The panel did not consider the misconduct to be a single incident. The panel has seen evidence of deepseated attitudinal problems.

"The panel therefore directs the Registrar to strike Mrs Facchini’s name from the NMC register."

Facchini cannot reapply for approval by the council for five years.

A spokeswoman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran said: "Following complaints from patients and staff, NHS Ayrshire and Arran conducted an internal investigation into the clinical practice of a midwife who previously worked in Ayrshire Maternity Unit.

"At that time, our management team made a referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in order that the member of staff was not able practice in any other area. As a result, this person has not worked for our organisation since 2013 and has now been removed from the NMC register.

"We would like to offer our sincere apologies to all the women affected by this individual’s failure to provide the high standards of care we strive to provide."