A former hero paramedic who failed to properly assess two patients will have to work under a caution order for the next four years.
The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) found almost all the allegations against Andrew Cowx – a former Scottish Ambulance Service paramedic – relating to incidents in 2011, to be true but allowed him to continue to practise.
Mr Cowx, who now works as a winchman on a Bond search and rescue helicopter, attended a call-out on his own in a rapid response vehicle in the early hours of October 8, 2011, to a nightclub where a woman had hurt her ankle.
He was honoured for his bravery last year after he was part of the team who rescued 11 men from the supply vessel VOS Sailor when it lost all power during a storm in December 2012, some 120 miles off the coast of Aberdeen.
Earlier in the week, the HCPC hearing in Aberdeen was told that Mr Cowx spent nine minutes assessing the woman – known only as Patient A – who was not transported to hospital that night and was later found to have suffered a spiral fracture in her leg.
The panel decided that Mr Cowx failed to complete an adequate assessment of Patient A at the scene of the incident but that the allegation that he did not take into account her inability to walk or bear weight was not proven.
At a second incident on November 27, 2011, Mr Cowx and his colleague Elaine Forbes were called to an incident near the Haudagain roundabout in Aberdeen where a man, Patient B, had come off a stolen moped and was complaining of lower back pain.
Police officers at the scene told Mr Cowx that Patient B had run away from the scene of the crash before falling to the ground a short distance away.
Patient B’s sister complained about the care he had received before being taken to hospital and discovering that he had a pelvic fracture.
The panel found the allegations that Mr Cowx did not carry out an adequate assessment of Patient B and did not fully complete an electronic patient report form to be proved.
Panel chairwoman Jennifer Rogers said that Mr Cowx’s failure to take proper patient histories or document them amounted to misconduct.
She added: “The panel recognises the steps taken by the registrant to correct his failings and develop his skills as a paramedic.
“He has maintained continuous professional assessment in carrying out in-hospital placements in orthopedics, fracture clinics and minor injury clinics.
“We also heard from Dr Mark Bloch, a consultant anaesthetist, medical director for Bond Offshore Helicopters and the registrant’s clinical lead, who confirmed all these steps that he had taken.”
The caution order will stay on Mr Cowx’s record for four years but will not affect his ability to practise as a qualified paramedic, which is required for his position at Bond.
Mr Cowx, from Cookney, Aberdeenshire, did not wish to comment on the proceedings last night.