On call doc refused to see my child (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

On call doc refused to see my child

7:27am Thursday 3rd July 2008 in

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A MOTHER who feared her daughter had contracted the killer meningitis bug claims she was refused an emergency home visit by an on-call GP.

Beverley Lewis, of Maylands, was woken in the middle of the night by her sick eight-year-old daughter Krista, who had broken out in a blotchy red rash.

Fearing the worst, the 35-year-old mother-of-three sought medical advice from the Pear Tree Centre, which runs an out-of-hours surgery on the QEII site.

Beverley claims the doctor, now at the centre of an investigation, said Krista's symptoms did not warrant a home-visit and the service was only available for terminally ill or housebound children.

She was then urged not to call an ambulance but to seek treatment at the 24-hour surgery.

Beverley said: "I am a single mum and I don't drive and I had my 11-year-old upstairs asleep.

"I was furious - it put me in an awful position. I had the choice of leaving one child at home unattended or just basically nursing her myself."

Unable to hail a lift to the centre and with no money to afford a taxi, Beverley was forced to care for her sick child with basic medicine, home alone.

She added: "She slept on the sofa and I didn't get to sleep until four in the morning.

"I had to stay up throughout the night and make sure she was okay. I don't mind doing that but at least when a doctor has visited you have that peace of mind.

"Luckily it turned out to be a virus. She had a runny nose, the rash was horrendous and she had breathing difficulties. Knowing what she had now, I would still want her to see a doctor so we know what to do and how serious the illness is."

Beverley has now lodged an official complaint with East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust, the body responsible for monitoring the out-of-hours service in the borough.

A spokeswoman for the PCT, said: "The PCT can confirm that it has received a formal complaint about this case and we are now investigating to find out what happened and to ensure that lessons are learnt. We will contact Ms Lewis as soon as this has been completed.

"Doctors from the out-of-hours service do make home-visits based on clinical needs and we aim to be sensitive to people's personal circumstances.

"This clearly did not happen on this occasion and we are sorry that Ms Lewis appears to have had such an unfortunate experience.

"In the majority of cases we would always encourage parents to bring their child to the out-of-hours centre at the QEII Hospital where there is access to appropriate diagnostic equipment and we can refer to specialist teams if required, something which may be delayed by undertaking a home-visit.

"Public feedback on the local out-of-hours service has been good and in recent discussions with local residents, received favourable comments.

"This makes it even more upsetting to hear of Beverley's experience."