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Weeping mother tells how son died
29/ 1/2007
A DOCTOR who failed to spot a toddler had meningitis has been found guilty of misconduct but will not be punished because of his past good reputation.
Wesley Hayward, aged two, died just hours after Dr Ramesh Gulati had examined the child, a General Medical Council hearing was told.
Dr Gulati, aged 62, from the Shiv Lodge Medical Centre in Longsight, Manchester, said he believed the boy had a viral infection when he examined him on October 21, 2003. He said that when he examined Wesley the following day there was no sign of the rash that led his mother to believe he had meningitis.
But a General Medical Council panel sitting in Manchester found that Dr Gulati was guilty of misconduct.
The chairman of the panel Roland Doven said: "We find most concerning the fact that you did not adequately examine the boy's body for a rash at the second consultation and the fact that you did not appreciate the change in his condition, in particular that he had vomited overnight and had been to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.
"You ought to have arranged his immediate admission to hospital or to have reviewed his condition within four hours."
Earlier in the hearing Wesley's mother, Diane told the council she made five attempts to get medical help after suspecting Wesley was suffering from meningitis.
Diane from Gorton, Manchester was told twice by Dr Gulati that Wesley was only suffering from a viral illness.
When the toddler developed a rash she did the `glass test' and convinced he was suffering from meningitis, rang NHS Direct, who advised her to take him to Manchester Royal Infirmary.
But staff at the hospital examined him and said there was nothing to worry about. The next day, she rang NHS Direct again and took Wesley to see her GP again.
Dr Gulati, admits he did not check for a classic sign of meningitis, a stiff neck, at the first appointment on October 21, 2003.
It was alleged he also failed to see the rash and check for an aversion to bright lights at the second appointment the next day, despite Ms Hayward's concern.
A few hours after seeing Dr Gulati a second time, Wesley slipped into a coma and paramedics could not revive him.
He was taken to MRI and then to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, in Pendlebury, where tests showed he had already suffered brain damage.
In a letter to Ms Hayward and her partner, James McAvoy, Dr Gulati claimed it was `not usual medical practice to carry out a full and thorough examination when the symptoms suggest viral infection'.
Ms Hayward, 30, broke down in tears as she described how she had desperately tried to get medical help for her son.
Describing the second appointment with Dr Gulati, she said: "I told him about the rash and lifted his top to show him. He did not say anything. I asked if it was meningitis and he said: `No, no, no, no'. When we got home, he lay on the sofa and he started making strange noises . . . and then he dropped into a coma - that is when we called 999."
She claims Dr Gulati briefly checked her son's mouth, neck and chest as he sat in his pushchair, before prescribing ibuprofen and paracetamol for a virus.
Angus McCullough, for the defence, said Dr Gulati would never examine a child in a pushchair and claims he also examined Wesley's ears and chest.
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1/02/2007 at 17:06