Error by junior doctor led to baby's meningitis death

Albie Jago was diagnosed with tonsillitis by the doctor at his hospital's accident and emergency unit and sent home. But the baby's condition worsened and he was dead within four hours.

Dr Roohi Singh, who saw Albie at University College London Hospital in Bloomsbury, told a General Medical Council he made a mistake by failing to diagnose the fatal condition.

The fitness-to-practice hearing in Manchester was told of a "systemic failure" at the hospital and inadequate training for junior staff, whom senior consultants were "reluctant" to help.

Dr Singh, 25, said: "I accept that I made an error of judgment and I deeply regret that. If I could change what I have done I would."

He said he did not consult with a qualified paediatrician because he did not think he needed to with a diagnosis of tonsillitis.

Dr Singh received an informal warning by the hospital in writing after the baby's death in December 2005 but was back working in the accident and emergency unit within a year.

He is accused of failing to perform proper checks and not seeking advice from his superiors.

A panel of three medical experts must decide whether Dr Singh, who now works at the Keats Group Practice in Hampstead and is almost qualified, should be struck off.

The inquirywas told by Mary O'Rourke, for Dr Singh, how the hospital was " horrendously busy" at the time and that its specialist paediatric ward had been closed due to "understaffing".

It also heard from Albie's parents, Tony Jago, 45, an unemployed taxi driver, and Sam Johns, 42, from Camden.

Ms Johns was on a Christmas shopping trip in the West End on 5 December with Albie and her daughter, Shelley Wren, 20, when the baby suddenly became lethargic.

His mother took him to the hospital, where a triage nurse took his pulse and temperature. Albie's heart rate was 208 beats a minute, twice the rate expected for a baby of his age.

Richard Pearce, for the GMC, told the hearing that Dr Singh had failed to grasp the significance of Albie's unusual heartbeat. Finding mucus on the back of the baby's throat, he diagnosed tonsillitis and prescribed penicillin.

Albie's condition worsened after he was taken home. When his lips turned blue, Ms Johns rang Great Ormond Street Hospital for help.

She was told to go to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, where she was met by a specialist team who spotted a telltale rash developing. Albie was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia and died at about 11pm.

Dr Sian Harding, the lead paediatrician at the hospital who carried out an investigation for Dr Singh's disciplinary hearing in June 2006, said: "The heart rate was very significant and Dr Singh should have known that. But somehow that message had not got across to him.

"I put that down to systemic failure in the hospital and the fact that he had received inadequate training."

Ms Johns told the Evening Standard: "I wish I'd known he [Dr Singh] was a junior doctor. If I'd been told that, I would have sought a second opinion.

"I knew there was something drastically wrong and I knew it was happening very quickly but he reassured me."

She added: "It's been a very distressing time for us all. Going through this hearing has been horrible. I can't cope with hearing what Albie was going through.

"I just want the truth. This case is not about misdiagnosis, it's about missing the vital signs."

The hearing continues.