UC24 doctor’s blunder almost killed me

Sep 28 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

A 21-YEAR-OLD woman ended up fighting for her life in a critical care unit after an out-of-hours doctor told her she only had tonsillitis.

Amanda Owens was actually suffering from a blood clot and pneumonia on her lungs which almost proved fatal.

Her family were horrified when hospital staff told them the next 48 hours would be critical for the south Liverpool student, after a scan showed the pneumonia had affected the whole of one lung and half of the other.

Last night, Miss Owens, who is still signed off work and from her studies, attacked the Liverpool out-of-hours GP service for its misdiagnosis of her condition.

She said the actions of Urgent Care 24 resulted in a delay of almost 12 hours in getting vital hospital attention.

Her family say, after complaining to UC24, they now intended to take their complaints to the Health Care Commission to ensure a change in some of the company’s working practices.

Miss Owens’s father, Phil Owens, from Garston, said: “We contacted UC24 in the early hours of a Sunday as Amanda had severe pains in the abdomen and requested a doctor to come.

“She was prioritised by the person taking the call and a doctor phoned back a short time later.

“She told him she didn't have transport to get to one of the two centres they had open and he did not offer transport or to make a home visit to assess her condition.

“After a few questions over the phone, he told her she probably had tonsillitis, despite her severe abdominal pains.”

Miss Owens rang back at 8am the next day, where an appoint-ment was made for her to attend a local centre at 11.10 am.

When she got there, she said the doctor on duty sent her to hospital as her condition had deteriorated.

Mr Owens added: “By Wednesday, she was in the maximum care unit and we were told she had a suspected blood clot on her lung and pneumonia. A scan showed the pneumonia affected the whole of one lung and half of the other.

“She spent five days in maximum care and was allowed home the following Wednesday. She is still signed off work after a recent X-ray showed the pneumonia had still not fully cleared.

“UC24 say they have to meet quality requirements for out-of- hours care set out by the Department of Health but I believe that, in my daughter’s case, they failed on at least three.

“We are not the sort of people to ring a doctor unnecessarily and trusted the advice we were given.

“If they had taken the time to diagnose her properly, this would not have been as serious.

“We lost valuable time in getting her the correct treatment as we were told it was nothing more sinister than tonsillitis.”

Miss Owens said: “It was very scary, especially when my family were told that the next 48 hours were going to be critical for me.

“If I had been seen sooner and diagnosed correctly I believe I would not have got so sick.”

UC24’s medical director, Simon Abrams, said that, while he could not comment on individual patient’s cases, the not-for-profit organisation’s complaint record was low, with only 192 complaints in 352,000 cases.

He said: “While I have every sympathy for this patient, I am also very proud of our low levels of complaints.

“It is sometimes difficult for GPs who may see a patient on a Monday with a sore throat but then a couple of days later their condition deteriorates.

“They then need a second consultation and different treatment.

“Symptoms do progress and conditions do get worse but this is often impossible to predict.

“However, in 99 cases out of 100, an initial diagnosis is correct and they get better.

“We couldn’t send all 100 to hospital just in case they get worse.”

This is not the first time controversy has surrounded UC24, who supply out-of-hours GP care for over 1m patients around Merseyside.

There were worries that the confidentiality of thousands of patients was compromised after a bug was discovered in the UC24 offices and the Daily Post also highlighted a doctor’s concerns after he found blank prescriptions lying in the reception area of one of UC24’s clinics.

The GMC has also investigated the case of Christy Millar, 21, who spent six weeks in a coma after a UC24 doctor failed to spot her acute appendicitis.

However, while they found that in Miss Millar’s case UC24 had acted appro-priately they are still investigating the death of Julie Barr, 28, who died of a heart attack after a UC24 GP told her to take paracetamol.

OPINION: PAGE 10

carolineinnes