{"id":519294,"date":"2026-04-08T09:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/519294\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T09:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:57:12","slug":"former-alder-hey-worker-failed-to-ask-parents-before-pulling-patients-shorts-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/519294\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Alder Hey worker failed to ask parents before pulling patient’s shorts down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbin Thankachan admitted to a litany of charges before asking for his name to be taken off medical registers\"Claire<\/p>\n

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.(Pic Andrew Teebay).(Image: LIVERPOOL ECHO)<\/p>\n

A former radiographer at Liverpool’s leading children\u2019s hospital <\/a>has been removed from the health care professionals register after admitting he did not consult with a patient or their parents before pulling down their shorts. Between July and December 2022, Melbin Thankachan was employed at Alder Hey Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the period of his employment, Mr Thankachan was not permitted to work alone and required supervision at all times. Throughout this time, concerns were raised about his level of competence with multiple radiographers raising concerns regarding his communication skills and clinical ability.<\/p>\n

After a referral was made to the Health <\/a>and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regarding his fitness to practise, Mr Thankachan has had his registration removed via a voluntary agreement. Documents released by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) confirmed the former registrar had been subject to an 18-month interim suspension order.<\/p>\n

It was alleged that during his time working at the hospital, Mr Thankachan was unable to communicate effectively as his spoken English and\/or understanding of the English language was poor, and he had to type what he wanted to say on his phone.<\/p>\n

The HCPTS documents revealed how patients could not understand the radiographer and as a result, he could not tell some they needed to be sent to an orthopaedic clinic following their x-ray examination.<\/p>\n

In December 2022, days before he resigned from Alder Hey, Mr Thankachan did not know how to ask Patient K\u2019s mother how to remove their babygro.<\/p>\n

Three months earlier, the radiographer did not consult with a patient and\/or their parents before pulling down their shorts, nor did he seek consent with another patient in October of the same year before tying her gown.<\/p>\n

It was also alleged that in August 2023, Mr Thankchan sent a \u201cthreatening\u201d email to a former colleague.<\/p>\n

Alder Hey Children\u2019s Hospital Trust made a referral to the HCPC in March 2023 regarding the former radiographer.<\/p>\n

In August 2023, an 18-month interim suspension from practice was implemented on the grounds of public protection. This was extended in February 2025 and again earlier this year.<\/p>\n

In July last year, Mr Thankachan confirmed he wanted to be removed from the register and asked whether his name could be removed that day. In documents submitted to the HCPTS, the former Alder Hey staff member only admitted to the allegation made against him in January of this year, including that his fitness to practise was currently impaired by reason of misconduct and lack of competence.<\/p>\n

An HCPTS panel examined the allegations, deeming them to be serious and describing them as \u201cwide-ranging, and suggested a sustained series of failures, including alleged failures in basic clinical decision-making but also different concerns regarding communication with colleagues and patients, including children.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was agreed Mr Thankachan\u2019s name would be removed from the list of registered radiographers and full remediation would be required to be shown should he ever seek to gain registration again.<\/p>\n

The ECHO <\/a>has contacted Alder Hey Children\u2019s Hospital Trust for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbin Thankachan admitted to a litany of charges before asking for his name to be taken off medical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[125458,102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-519294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-alder-hey-childrens-hospital","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}