The father of a toddler with leukaemia is claiming that an out-of-hours doctor from overseas misdiagnosed her as having trapped wind.

The Daily Mail reports that three-year-old Taylor Codling had a temperature of 40C (104F) and her skin had turned yellow when her father rushed her to a weekend clinic run by Take Care Now (TCN).

The clinic was run by the same company that employed German doctor Daniel Ubani, who was found to have killed 70-year-old David Gray from Cambridgeshire by giving him 10 times the normal dose of diamorphine. An inquiry into Dr Ubani concluded that his poor English language skills had contributed to the mistake.

Taylor Codling’s father James said the check-up given by the doctor at the out-of-hours clinic lasted for around two minutes. The female doctor diagnosed trapped wind and told the family to buy a bottle of gripe water on the way home. Mr Codling said that her English language skills appeared to be adequate, but added:

'There is a big difference between my little girl having trapped wind and having leukaemia. We were in and out in two minutes. I don't think the doctor was really bothered.'

Mr Codling said that the doctor had ‘not spoken much’ during the brief assessment of his daughter’s condition – and in the days that followed, Taylor’s condition deteriorated.

Mr Codling – a single parent – took her to their local GP in Hasketon, Suffolk. Taylor was referred to hospital immediately and the result of blood tests at Ipswich Hospital two days’ later – on 23 March – revealed that she had leukaemia.

In 2009, TCN was stripped of its out-of-hours contract, but this only took effect from 1 April  this year – one week after Taylor's misdiagnosis. Her father is now threatening legal action.

NHS Suffolk said that it had ended a contract with TCN and a spokeswoman added:

'Whilst we are not able to comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality, we would certainly like to offer our best wishes to the family and wish their daughter a speedy recovery.'

Out-of-hours care for Suffolk is now run by Harmoni HS Ltd. A spokeswoman for the company apologised for the misdiagnosis and said the doctor who had examined Taylor had not worked for the company since they took over out-of-hours care on 1 April. The spokeswoman added:

'The patient has not formally contacted us, although the incident is now under investigation and a formal report will be written.’

Mr Codling said that his main concern was that other youngsters were being misdiagnosed by ‘sub-standard locums’. He believes the doctor who misdiagnosed Taylor may have come from Eastern Europe.

'How many other people went there on the same day as me and had a wrong diagnosis?  All this has to stop. Patients do not know how well qualified these doctors are – or even if they are qualified.’

He added that if it had not been for his own actions, Taylor might not have been diagnosed in time to save her.

'If I hadn't panicked we would be looking at something far more serious. This mistake could have cost her her life.'

The little girl is now facing nine months of treatment, including chemotherapy – and the family will have to wait to find out the extent to which the leukaemia has spread and if she is responding to treatment.

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