Girl dies after turned away by GP...

Very tragic! I think a lot of the problem with some gp's is they are so overworked and so used to seeing people who probably don't need to be there they have become very cynical and people who need genuine care can get overlooked. A girl I know died after visiting the gp saying she felt unwell, doctor just sent her home saying she's young and will be ok, turns out she had blood poisoning.
 
I am no earlier than 10 mins late for my GP appointments, because they are delayed for whatever reason, except one time a week ago... they were on time for an 8:30am appointment.

Seems a bit harsh to turn the kid away, but the blame for the death can only be with the parents, here.
 
The whole situation is messed up and the doctor seems like a right dragon.

I wouldn't be happy having her as my doctor, but come on FFS, the parent should've taken her to the hospital straight away at that moment regardless. You know she has a history so do the right thing, regardless of all the demonising of visiting A&E departments I'm sure no one would've cared if it turned out to be nothing with her history.

Such a sad situation.
 
Jono said:
I am no earlier than 10 mins late for my GP appointments, because they are delayed for whatever reason, except one time a week ago... they were on time for an 8:30am appointment.

Seems a bit harsh to turn the kid away, but the blame for the death can only be with the parents, here.
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I know what you mean. I don't tend to worry too much because they are NEVER on time. This must have been a first.
 
I don't think I've ever been seen within 20 minutes of my appointment time nevermind how early I've turned up and if the records are correct and the Dr didn't see anyone else for that chunk of time then she has no excuse other than working out her God complex.

Still, any parents of a child who suffers from serious asthma needs to have a long hard look at themselves for not going to A+E once the Dr refused to see them.
 
Im glad this forum exists. Last night I was fuming at this story putting the blame entirely on the GP.
After reading through the comments im a bit more in the middle now, the parents absolutely had a responsibility to get to the A+E asap but for some reason didnt despite the childs history of needing specialist treatment.

I still dont think its right for the GP to turn away a patient (I didnt think they were allowed to do that anyway? medical ethics?) but yes the parent is equally liable here. Sad that the child died because of it.
 
The issue is that we don't know enough about the family and the GP, i hope one day we live in a society that scours over every possible facet of peoples lives so we can get the truth unabridged.

/s/maybe/s/
 
dirtychinchilla said:
I think they are. The GP was just sticking to their schedule. I don't see how this is their fault at all. If they were late, that's a different matter.

Poor girl, and poor parents.
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Well you're wrong and they have a responsibility to treat her - thus the GP was suspended by the practice and reprimanded by the regulator.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
So you're saying that no matter how late you are, you still must be seen if you have an appointment?
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To a point I'd say so, if someone was having breathing difficulties in the street I don't think anyone would find it acceptable for a GP to just walk past because they weren't at work.
 
tom_e said:
To a point I'd say so, if someone was having breathing difficulties in the street I don't think anyone would find it acceptable for a GP to just walk past because they weren't at work.
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There might be problem with helping if the Doctor was "Off Duty" if S/He hasn't taken out special additional insurance to cover themselves.

http://www.medicalindemnity.com/

(Reading between the lines, NHS medical staff would not be covered by employers liability insurance working"Off Duty" and would therefore not have any cover unless they had chosen to take out additional persoanl cover, out of their own pockets, to cover them in "Good Samariton" scenarios)
 
Jono said:
I am no earlier than 10 mins late for my GP appointments, because they are delayed for whatever reason, except one time a week ago... they were on time for an 8:30am appointment.

Seems a bit harsh to turn the kid away, but the blame for the death can only be with the parents, here.
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Well no that's nonsense i'm afraid. This is a child that has known asthma issues and the GP couldn't be bothered to see her. She was a few minutes late, didn't have a patient in with her at the time, why couldn't she be seen ? Did she ask if the little girl was ok? No.

I'm not absolving the parents of blame because some lays with them but to say the GP isn't at fault in some way is utter nonsense to me. Has she just asked how she was she could have directed her to A and E.
 
I do wonder if the receptionists directed them to try A&E, it just seems so bizarre that they wouldn't. I mean the other week I went to my GP for a morning walk in appointment for something not as urgent, they were short staffed that day as one GP was ill so didn't have any appointment slots left and told me I could come back the next morning or go to the NHS walk in centre nearby - they also said if it got worse to go to A&E.
 
dowie said:
I do wonder if the receptionists directed them to try A&E, it just seems so bizarre that they wouldn't. I mean the other week I went to my GP for a morning walk in appointment for something not as urgent, they were short staffed that day as one GP was ill so didn't have any appointment slots left and told me I could come back the next morning or go to the NHS walk in centre nearby - they also said if it got worse to go to A&E.
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I have several experiences of GP receptionists telling me or someone I'm with that I don't need to see a GP and to go home and wait a few days. In some of those instances I've then seen GPs during the appointment a receptionist said wasn't worth it "berate" (not really berate but I like that word) the patient for not having attended sooner and sending them off to hospital for an emergency. So the quality of advice from receptionists can be variable, and in some cases medically worrying.
 
dowie said:
What I'm saying has nothing to do with whether you've even got an appointment. I'm saying that a doctor has a duty to see a patient in a medical emergency.
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That's not how emergency appointments work. You get emergency appointments because they aren't those planned in advance like normal, it has nothing to do with whether what's wrong with you is an emergency or not.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
That's not how emergency appointments work. You get emergency appointments because they aren't those planned in advance like normal, it has nothing to do with whether what's wrong with you is an emergency or not.
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I'm not sure how that is in anyway relevant to my point that the GP had a duty of care here.

Again you're still wrong.
 
people here are focusing on the wrong problem here - yes mother should have gone to A&E, but the doctor is the underlying issue.

She should be struck off for negligence, and it's borderline manslaughter because she knew of her history of problems.
 
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