Doctor was let off after a secret hearing

MEDICAL chiefs were heavily criticised for their decision to discipline Dr Rowe in secret.

Doctors can avoid public disciplinary hearings if they accept an initial sanction or, as in the case of Dr Rowe, if they agree to accept a written warning. Dr Rowe was let off with a 294-word warning by the General Medical Council in May 2016. It concluded her failings were not so serious as to warrant her being struck off.

She was allowed to go back to work, at a surgery in Cardiff, yet none of her patients would have known about her fatal mistake had it not been exposed by a newspaper. Dr Rowe was suspended on full pay after Ellie-May’s death ahead of her fitness to practise hearing.

A confidential NHS report later found the ‘root cause’ of the girl’s death was Dr Rowe’s refusal to see her. It also noted that staff were fearful of questioning the GP because of her ‘repeated angry outbursts’ and ‘volatile nature’.