Boy had 'no signs of meningitis'

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A doctor accused of twice failing to diagnose a fatal case of meningitis in a two-year-old boy said the child showed no signs of serious illness.

Wesley Hayward died a few hours after Dr Ramesh Chandra Gulati told his mother he did not have the condition.

Diane Hayward, 31, took her son to the Manchester surgery for a second time after being turned away from hospital.

Dr Gulati told a hearing of the General Medical Council (GMC) he was satisfied Wesley had a "simple viral infection".

"I have seen hundreds of thousands of children with similar viral illnesses and he did not look any different," he told the Fitness to Practise panel.

Dr Gulati, 62, saw Wesley for the first time at the Shiv Lodge Medical Centre, Longsight, Manchester, on 21 October 2003.

It is always very distressing when you have an unexplained death of a child who was born in your practice area Dr Ramesh Chandra Gulati

He prescribed paracetamol and ibuprofen for symptoms including a headache, pains in his stomach and legs, and a high temperature.

Wesley later developed a rash and his mother took him to Manchester Royal Infirmary, where doctors assured her it was not meningitis.

She returned to Dr Gulati's surgery the next day after he began vomiting.

The doctor told the hearing: "My diagnosis was that he had suffered side effects from the ibuprofen."

He said he checked Wesley for signs of a rash but could not find any.

Nor could he find any signs of respiratory infection and Wesley did not show any irritability to bright lights.

Charges denied

Dr Gulati admitted he did not record a note of Miss Hayward's complaint about the rash, which he accepted he should have.

Wesley later slipped into a coma and died in hospital the following day.

Dr Gulati told the panel that improvements had been made at the surgery following an internal review prompted by his death.

"It is always very distressing when you have an unexplained death of a child who was born in your practice area," he said.

Dr Gulati denies twice failing to carry out a thorough examination, failing to complete adequate notes, failing to offer adequate advice and failing to diagnose meningitis.

The hearing continues on Thursday.