- Claire Taylor went to the GP complaining of feeling unwell for 2 months
- GP Dr Michelle Watts visited her twice but failed to recognise she was suffering from a complication of type 1 diabetes
- A tribunal hearing concluded her failings amounted to serious misconduct
- It did not consider her fitness to practice impaired but a 5-year warning was placed on her file
Kate Pickles For Mailonline
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A GP who failed to diagnose tragic Claire Taylor, 17, with life-threatening diabetes has been criticised at a professional tribunal.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) tribunal concluded that Dr Michelle Watts’ failings amounted to serious misconduct.
It placed a five-year warning on her record after an inquiry into the death of Miss Taylor which identified a string of ‘systems failings’ which might have prevented the tragedy.
Dr Watts was criticised for her treatment of Miss Taylor, from Kirriemuir, Angus, who succumbed to type 1 diabetes after falling seriously ill in November 2012.
Claire Taylor, from Angus, Scotland, died from undiagnosed diabetes after visiting her local GP surgery on a number of occassions
A tribunal hearing found Dr Michelle Watts’ failings amounted to serious misconduct but did not consider her fitness to practice to be impaired
The tribunal said she had failed to ‘stand back and take account of the wider picture’.
However it did not consider that Dr Watts’ fitness to practise was impaired after noting the ‘appropriate action’ taken to remedy the errors of the tragic case.
Miss Taylor had been ill for around two weeks due to an apparent viral infection.
But while being cared for at home her condition rapidly deteriorated and despite the valiant attempts of paramedics to resuscitate her, she could not be saved.
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Her parents, Malcolm and Helen, say they hope lessons learned will prevent any other family from suffering similar heartbreak after several doctors missed the warning signs as the virulent disease took hold.
But they remain unhappy with NHS Tayside over the system failures which trigger alarm bells with GPs who saw their otherwise healthy daughter on a number of occasions shortly before her death.
Mrs Taylor went through the emotional ordeal of recalling her daughter’s rapid deterioration to the deadly condition, describing how the Webster’s High School pupil had slipped away as she held her hand.
Tests after her death revealed Miss Taylor had type 1 diabetes, an immune problem which requires sufferers to inject themselves with insulin every day
Parents Helen and Malcolm Taylor said they hoped lessons would be learned from their daughter’s death and they were disappointed with NHS Tayside
Dr Watts, who is associate medical director of primary care services at NHS Tayside, was based at Kirriemuir health centre at the time of the tragedy.
The General Medical Council also investigated the conduct of three other doctors at the health centre before bringing a case against only Dr Watts, leading to the MPTS tribunal in Manchester.
Following several days of evidence earlier this year, the tribunal reconvened this week and issued its findings yesterday.
WHAT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS OF TYPE 1 DIABETES?
The charity Diabetes UK says the four most common symptoms of type 1 diabetes are:
Toilet
Going to the toilet a lot, bed wetting by a previously dry child or heavier nappies in babies
Thirsty
Being really thirsty and not being able to quench the thirst
Tired
Feeling more tired than usual
Thinner: Losing weight or looking thinner than usual
The charity has warned that too many children and young people are not diagnosed with type 1 diabetes until they are in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
This is a life-threatening condition that requires urgent medical attention.
They told Dr Watts: ‘There were serious failures in your assessment, investigation and diagnosis of the patient’s condition.
‘In the tribunal’s judgement, the underlying reason why a doctor of your experience permitted these failings was that you failed to stand back and take account of the wider picture.’
They added: ‘You are a competent doctor who provides a valuable service to the community and the tribunal does not consider that public confidence in the profession and in the regulatory process is undermined by this decision.
‘The tribunal considers that there was a systems failure in that the patient had, in the preceding days and weeks, been seen by other practitioners who had also missed the diagnosis.’
Last night Mr and Mrs Taylor said: ‘The underlying issue is that we would not wish this to happen again. If individuals have concerns about the quality of care, they must complain in writing, or remedial action cannot take place.
‘We are, however, disappointed that NHS Tayside still refuse to accept that their systems do not recognise frequent visits to a GP over a short period of time from a young person who is otherwise fit as being an issue.’
At the time of Miss Taylor’s death in November 2012, the Webster’s High School pupil was described as a ‘wee firecracker’ and a ‘popular and kind’ teenager.
She had set her heart on becoming a dietitian for a career, but she also liked baking cakes and a second choice of job would have been to become a confectioner.
In the wake of their daughter’s death, Mr and Mrs Taylor, and son’s Dougie and Andrew, did much to raise money in her memory and for research into diabetes.
NHS Tayside said: ‘We do not comment on matters relating to individual members of staff.’
At the time of Miss Taylor’s death in November 2012, the Webster’s High School pupil was described as a ‘wee firecracker’ and a ‘popular and kind’ teenager
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