Doctor struck off for sepsis cover-up
AN NHS doctor has been struck off for failing to diagnose sepsis in two patients, then trying to cover up the mistake.
Dr Kathleen Bilton, 73, missed the deadly condition in a two-year-old boy and a woman and tried to hide her blunder by entering made-up readings in their medical records.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service has ruled that the GP of 50 years’ standing was guilty of misconduct and a ‘risk to the public’, and should be struck off because of her ‘deplorable’ dishonesty.
Bilton was working as an out- ofhours GP at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, South Wales, when a mother arrived with her feverish toddler, named only as Patient B.
The tribunal heard he had ‘fever, smelly breath, enlarged tonsils and flulike symptoms’ but Dr Bilton prescribed antibiotics and discharged him.
‘On the way home, Patient B became unresponsive,’ the hearing was told. ‘His mother called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital and subsequently diagnosed with sepsis.’
The boy’s medical records showed the GP had entered figures for his pulse, temperature, respiration and other variables but his mother told investigators Bilton did not carry out any of these routine tests.
The hearing in Manchester was also told a woman known as Patient A believed she had a urinary tract infection and Dr Bilton prescribed antibiotics and pain-relief medication.
But the tribunal noted: ‘She returned home after the consultation but was admitted to hospital two days later and was subsequently diagnosed with sepsis. The General Medical Council alleges that Dr Bilton failed to obtain an adequate history, failed to carry out an appropriate examination and failed to make an adequate diagnosis.’
She also dishonestly recorded details of a purported examination.
Patient A and the toddler’s parents made official complaints after being seen by the GP during a busy spell over Christmas 2017. An audit also discovered ‘possible concerns’ over a third patient in March 2018.
Bilton, a grandmother who lives in Cardiff, accepted she acted inappropriately but denied dishonesty.
But the tribunal ruled that her dishonesty was at the ‘higher end of the spectrum’ and ‘may well be described as deplorable by fellow practitioners’.
The Daily Mail has been campaigning on the illness since 2016 to raise awareness in an attempt to reduce the number of missed cases.