A MIDWIFE could still be struck off years after she was found to have left a new mother alone while she was bleeding.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found in 2014 that Jayne Steel made a series of mistakes while working as a midwife at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

This month at a review hearing for Miss Steel at the NMC headquarters in London, the Fitness to Practise Committee said the NMC “may consider imposing a striking-off order” in the future if she did not engage with the regulator.

While working as a midwife for the hospital trust between June 2010 and July 2011, Miss Steel was found to have “not demonstrated the standard of knowledge, skills and abilities required to practise without supervision”.

Among the list of errors, in July 2010 she failed to realise a woman who had just given birth was bleeding excessively and left her unattended.

In another incident, in the same month, she failed to immediately clamp and cut the umbilical cord following birth.

Later that year she was found to have been unable to distinguish between the foetal heart rate and the mother’s heart rate.

Miss Steel was also found to have kept poor notes, failed to carry out proper examinations, and recorded that a patient did not suffer from allergies without checking.

Despite the long list of incidents, the midwife was not struck off and made subject to conditions of a practice order forcing her to inform prospective employers about her dealings with NMC.

The order was made for two years before it was further extended and is due to expire in April.

The hearing heard Miss Steel, who registered as a midwife in 2009, had since struggled to find work as midwife due to the terms of the practice order, despite applying for numerous healthcare roles.

The NMC panel said “there remained a significant risk to the public protection as a result of Miss Steel’s failure to remediate her failings”.

They said she has not practised a as midwife for several years and has not made any effort to maintain her knowledge and skills.

Miss Steel declined to attend the hearing, despite emailing the NMC to say she “will not give up until I get a positive outcome form this situation”.

But she was warned if she did not engage with NMC she could be struck off.

Her registration with the NMC was suspended for three months with effect from April 16.