A Five-Year-Old Girl Died After Being Denied For Treatment From Being Late, GP Took Disciplinary Actions

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A five-year-old girl died of an asthma attack few hours after her doctor refuses to see her because she was late for her emergency appointment at her clinic in Newport. The doctor's watchdog has agreed to take disciplinary actions but in a secret hearing to avoid the stress of public exposure.

Ellie-May's mother, Shanice Clark told the Pressreader that she booked an emergency appointment in Grange Clinic due to her daughter's worsening asthma attacks. She was told to arrive at five past morning but due to some reasons, she arrived four minutes passed five.

However, Dr. Joanne Rowe, specialist for safeguarding the children in Grange Clinic, reportedly shouted at the receptionist saying, "I am not seeing her, she is late" and claiming she was eight minutes late for her emergency appointment. With disappointments, Shanice Clark took Ellie-May back home. Five hours later Ellie-May suffered a seizure and stopped breathing. She was brought to the Royal Gwent Hospital by ambulance but later pronounced as dead.

May of last year, Dr. Rowe was left off with a 294-word warning by the General Medical Council or GMC. But her failings were concluded to be a not so serious to warrant her. Despite the incident, Dr. Rowe was disciplined secretly to avoid stress from the public. And after the secret hearing, she continues her profession at a new clinic in Cardiff. Not one of her patients knew about her mistake until they saw the Sunday newspaper.

According to Daily Mail, Andrew Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said that the way that the situation has been handled needs to be exposed and it's an absolute disgrace that this kind of hearings can be held behind closed doors. Davies also commits to seek an urgent meeting with the GMC to establish what steps are being taken to ensure that this never happens again.

"The public should have a confidence that the disciplinary process is configured to protect patient safety and not the profession," Davies said. With the incident, Davies are concerned to the impact on to the people who are treated with the same kind of services in the clinic.

Since Dr. Joanne Rowe has chosen her personal wants above her responsibility to provide treatment, Ellie-May has paid the ultimate price. "People will be scratching their heads trying to understand how Dr. Joanne Rowe has escaped with such lenient punishment," Davies said.