Too little, too late
Coroner blasts doctor who ignored mum’s pleas as girl, six, lay dying of meningitis
AN A&e doctor’s ‘blatant disregard’ for a mother’s concerns about her seriously ill daughter led to the little girl’s death, a coronor said yesterday.
dr Harsha Rajanna was the most senior doctor on duty when he saw six-year-old layla-Rose ermenekli, who was suffering from meningitis.
The coroner blamed the doctor’s ‘barely perfunctory examination’ of the child, along with poor communication and ‘less than honest’ discussion with colleagues for the tragedy that followed. His testimony to the inquest was also condemned as ‘completely unreliable’.
The child’s mother Kirsty ermenekli accused dr Rajanna of treating her like a ‘ paranoid mother’ after he told her to take layla-Rose home.
dr Rajanna, 41, claimed a rash on layla-Rose’s left hip – a telltale sign of meningitis – was a ‘bruise’ and that she was simply suffering a viral infection.
It was only after Mrs ermenekli spoke to a worried nurse that her daughter was admitted to a paediatric ward – five hours after arriving at the Royal oldham Hospital in Greater Manchester.
once there, the correct diagnosis was finally made, with layla-Rose suffering from one of the ‘ worst cases of meningitis’ the hospital had ever seen. The little girl developed fatal sepsis and died at 4.50am, just over eight hours after arriving at the hospital on February 3 last year.
North Manchester Coroner lisa Hashimi, who recorded a narrative conclusion, said: ‘ The doctor’s
Failings: Dr Harsha Rajanna lack of communication, recordkeeping and blatant disregard for the concerns raised, was the catalyst to the catastrophic events that followed. I believe if further tests had been run at the early stage, there would have been a preliminary indication of sepsis.
‘There was an expectation that a competent practitioner could, should and would have identified that mark as a rash. The appropriate care was too little, too late.’ She added: ‘I don’t accept dr Rajanna’s evidence and explanation. When he examined layla-Rose it was a barely perfunctory examination and the mother’s concerns were undervalued. The doctor’s decision to discharge was wrong and inherently unsafe.’
Miss Hashimi went on to criticise dr Rajanna’s testimony to the inquest, which concluded on Wednesday. She said: ‘His evidence was confusing and I would go further and say it was completely unreliable. Most of his evidence was discredited. He was less than honest with colleagues at the medical handover at the end of the shift.’ dr Rajanna told the inquest that he told a junior doctor the mark on layla-Rose’s hip was a bruise but admitted failing to document it. He also claimed that when he asked the child’s mother about the mark, she told him she had run into a table. But Mrs ermenekli, 32, flatly denied his account at the hearing. She said: ‘I was absolutely disgusted. He clearly lied in front of me.’ She is filing a complaint about dr Rajanna with the General Medical Council, which has the power to strike him off. The coroner Miss Hashimi said in her conclusion: ‘I don’t accept he was told layla-Rose had run into a table. I simply don’t believe any such conversation took place.’ Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, which runs the hospital, has apologised to the family. But yesterday it emerged dr Rajanna was still employed by the trust. The tragedy unfolded after layla-Rose complained of feeling sick at school. She was found to have a temperature of 105F. Mrs ermenekli, a beautician and mother of three, took her to A&e. There she was dismissed like a ‘paranoid mother’ by dr Rajanna, who she felt ‘ couldn’ t be bothered’. dr Rajanna, who qualified in 2001, told the hearing: ‘I understood she was sick with a high temperature but when I looked at her she was looking OK and there was no obvious concern.’ The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group said: ‘We fully accept the findings of the coroner and apologise unreservedly to layla-Rose’s family. We have implemented robust training for staff with regards to recognising very poorly children.’ The doctor, who lives at a £ 400,000 detached home in Greater Manchester, was last night unavailable for comment. The GMC declined to comment.
‘He clearly lied in front of me’