A&E doctor let off over sepsis death of boy, 9
A DOCTOR who covered up a mistake that led to a boy dying from sepsis has escaped being struck off.
Thomas Hull’s illness was dismissed by Thiagarajan Sundaravadivelu as a chest infection after a brief consultation in A&E.
Following Thomas’s death the locum registrar wrote up a report giving false readings suggesting he had examined the nine-year-old properly and that he had been on the mend.
The cover-up attempt was revealed after his grieving mother rejected the hospital’s claim that no mistakes had been made and complained to the health ombudsman.
Dr Sundaravadivelu was hauled before a medical tribunal, which branded his conduct deplorable. However it gave him just a four-month suspension from practising.
Thomas’s mother Donna, 38, said last night: ‘I’m disgusted that he hasn’t been struck off – if a child dying unnecessarily isn’t enough for a doctor to be banned, I don’t know what is.
‘He’s a disgrace to the medical profession and I dread to think what will happen if he gets another job in the NHS.’
Thomas, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy and needed dedicated care from his mother and a specialist nurse, was taken to Whiston Hospital in Prescot, Merseyside in December 2013 with a chest infection.
A consultant suspected the youngster might have sepsis but she failed to alert colleagues or his mother. Thomas was later seen briefly by Dr Sundaravadivelu who sent him home. The boy died just six hours later at his St Helens home.
Dr Sundaravadivelu, who is believed to be working in his native India, went before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. He denied failing to carry out a full examination but admitted other failures.
The tribunal found him guilty of misconduct but accepted it was an isolated incident.
The disturbing case comes as the NHS introduces tough rules in a bid to reduce the toll of ‘silent killer’ sepsis.
It is a victory for a campaign by the Daily Mail following the death of 12-month-old William Mead, whose condition was also missed by doctors.