Teenager Who Died Was Told Meningitis 'Unlikely'
Posted on: Wednesday, 5 October 2005, 09:00 CDT
By Frank Urquhart
AN NHS 24 nurse adviser reassured an anxious teenager it was "unlikely" that she had meningitis, only 25 hours before she died of the infection, a fatal accident inquiry heard yesterday.
Annie Gray, the medical helpline adviser who took the first call from the worried family of schoolgirl Shomi Miah, told Aberdeen Sheriff Court she heard nothing during her 20-minute phone call with Miss Miah and two of her brothers to arouse any suspicion that the 17-year-old was suffering from the potentially fatal disease.
Miss Gray believed the pupil of Harlaw Academy, Aberdeen, who had been struck down by meningitis as a child, was suffering from a viral infection such as flu.
She told the court: "I was very aware at a younger age she had had meningitis, and knowing how serious that was,
"I thought it was very important to reassure her anxiety that she had meningitis.
"I wanted to reassure her that it was unlikely she had meningitis. I wanted her symptoms to be treated and for her to feel better as quickly as possible."
Her evidence came on the second day of a fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of Miss Miah, of Springbank Terrace, Aberdeen, and Steven Wiseman, a 30-year-old joiner from Laurencekirk.
Both their families have blamed their deaths on delays in receiving treatment through the NHS 24 telephone helpline and have lodged formal complaints against the service.
Miss Gray, 35, who has left the medical helpline to work as care manager, had earlier told the inquiry her role was to make a clinical assessment - it was never her place to diagnose what a patient was suffering from.
She said: "You are always erring on the side of caution. You are always thinking worst-case scenario."
The inquiry before Sheriff James Tierney continues.
Source: Scotsman, The
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