Consultant fell short of standards of care, says expert

THE care provided by a consultant at St James’s Hospital in Dublin to a woman who died as a result of complications from a bowel obstruction fell seriously short of expected standards, a medical expert has claimed.

Anthony Peel, a consultant surgeon at St Bart’s Hospital in London, told a hearing of the Irish Medical Council yesterday that the patient’s chances of having a successful operation were compromised by a delay in a decision to arrange surgery.

The patient, Colette Donohoe, a 54-year-old mother of two from Derry Road, Crumlin, died on August 22, 2006 five days after she was first admitted to St James’s when she had already suffered vomiting and stomach pains for 48 hours.

Consultant surgeon, Dr Javaid Butt, is facing five charges of professional misconduct over his handling of Ms Donohoe’s care.

Mr Peel, an expert witness called on behalf of the IMC, told a meeting of its Fitness-to-Practise Committee that a decision to seek a CT scan of the patient should have been activated much earlier than the day she died.

Mr Peel said there was strong evidence to show the original plan to manage Ms Donohoe’s treatment conservatively was not working by August 20 as her condition was getting progressively worse. At that stage, Mr Peel said the hospital’s on-call team should have been alerted that Ms Donohoe might need surgery.

He told the hearing that it was the role of the consultant to arrange the treatment for a patient over the course of a weekend and to delegate various duties to medical and nursing staff.

Mr Peel said failure to examine the patient’s abdomen between Friday and Monday afternoon was “a grave omission and below acceptable clinical standards”. Mr Peel rejected the suggestion that the 18 patients under Dr Butt’s care that weekend was a high number.

The hearing was adjourned until December 13.