Legal News

A doctor is facing a charge of professional misconduct, after it is alleged she failed to properly assess a toddler who died from dehydration after he was admitted to hospital with vomiting and diarrhoea.

The Daily Mail reports that paediatrician Dr Tasnim Arif is accused of failing to properly assess 19-month-old Harry Connelly, who had been referred to Northampton General Hospital by a GP.

Dr Arif examined Harry in April 2011, but despite the repeated concerns of his mother, Lucy Connelly, that her son’s condition was deteriorating, it is alleged that Dr Arif failed to weigh him, take blood tests – or properly assess Harry’s condition before she sent him home.

Harry’s father Raymond Connelly found him dead in his cot on 1 May, three days after being sent home from hospital. He died of dehydration and kidney failure.

At an inquest into Harry’s death in 2012, Coroner Anne Pember listed a series of failings’ by doctors and nurses at the hospital, as well as failings at a GP out-of-hours service Harry was taken to.

Harry had been admitted to Northampton General Hospital but was sent home without crucial tests, a hearing of the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal in Manchester has heard.

A doctor advised his parents he was not dehydrated but recommended Dioralyte and Harry was discharged with 48 hour open access, meaning another referral would not be needed if he returned to hospital.

When his mother took him back to Northampton General, he was seen by Dr Arif, whom, it is alleged, “failed to fully record that Harry was still passing blood in his stool, that he had not eaten for five days or that he was lethargic”.

Dr Arif admits she failed in this and that she failed to check his weight.

However, she denies failing to “adequately assess or record a number of clinical features when assessing the baby’s hydration status” – including the overall summary of “well hydrated” or “not well hydrated”.

The hearing continues.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – Medical Negligence Claims

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of personal injury solicitors and can advise on how to make a no win no fee compensation claim relating to medical negligence, including:

• Birth injuries (including perineal tears)
• Cosmetic surgery gone wrong
• Dental negligence
• GP negligence
• Hospital-acquired infections
• Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
• Prescribing errors
• Surgical errors
• Wrong or delayed medical treatment.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee medical negligence claims, contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.