Baby’s fatal pneumonia ‘missed twice by doctors’

“While doctors and nurses have specific medical training, they need to give greater weight to the views of parents, who see their children every day and are able to identify any deterioration. In our experience, parents pursuing clinical negligence claims have often had their concerns dismissed in the early stages of diagnosis.

“In this particular case, the child was brought to an out-of-hours privately run GP centre, which is in itself indicative of the level of the parents’ concern over their child. The family experienced two attendances at the GP surgery, and both times symptoms were ignored. At the second meeting a thorough examination should have occurred and past medical history should have been ascertained, with the family’s previous attendance at the surgery being taken in to account.

“On the third visit only a cursory examination was required for a medical professional to see the extent of the child’s illness. Tragically, the parents’ fears for their child were proved to be correct.

“Whilst nothing can undo the negligence that occurred in this case, it is essential that medical practitioners learn from mistakes such as these in order to prevent similar tragedies taking place in the future.”

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