'Baby had meningitis but locum said he was teething'

A baby was taken to intensive care after a locum doctor from Greece working at a Barking clinic allegedly failed to diagnose his meningitis, telling his mother he was just teething.

Archie McCoy, of Dagenham, was in hospital for 10 days, including four nights in intensive care, after the GP dismissed a swelling on his head and prescribed adult teething gel, it is claimed.

Abbie Parsons, 20, mother of the six-month-old boy, took him to a local hospital after his grandmother, Tina McCoy, was shocked by his "sky-high" temperature.

Doctors immediately diagnosed meningitis and sent Archie to a specialist unit at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington where he was put in intensive care. During his stay, he failed to respond to drugs and his heart almost stopped beating.

After a further six days in Queen's Hospital, Romford, he made a full recovery. Ms Parsons said the locum at John Smith Medical Centre "appeared very dismissive" when she took Archie to see him.

"I didn't see him even take his temperature, despite Archie being lifeless and limp. Archie was so hot it was unbelievable but we managed to catch it just in time. I'm a first-time mum and I could have easily believed what this man was telling me." The family claim the same GP misdiagnosed Mrs McCoy's foster son this year.

The 12-year-old was taken to the John Smith Medical Centre with suspected ringworm but the locum is said to have dismissed it as "his trousers rubbing against his legs". The rash was later diagnosed as ringworm, the family claim. It is believed the doctor has now flown back to Greece.

Since 2004, local GPs have been allowed to stop out-of-hours working in return for a £6,000 pay cut. Health trusts have increasingly relied on locums drawn from EU countries rather than experienced GPs from the local area who often demand higher pay. The foreign doctors can cover out-of-hours shifts without tests on their skills or language abilities.

A spokesman for NHS Outer North East London said: "A complaint has been received about a locum GP temporarily employed by John Smith Medical Centre. Due to the seriousness of this complaint all bookings with the locum agency concerned were immediately cancelled pending a full review and investigation."