A SENIOR Scots doctor faces being struck off after allegedly failing to diagnose diabetes in a “popular and kind” teenager who died within two weeks of feeling ill.
Dr Michelle Watts held two consultations with 17-year-old Claire Taylor at the Kirriemuir Health Centre in Angus when she began to feel unwell in 2012.
It is claimed that she “failed to record patient symptoms” and was “misleading and dishonest” in her records, which meant that Claire’s Type 1 diabetes was left undiagnosed.
The teen passed away while being cared for at home, and now Dr Watts could be struck off the register and banned from the profession at a hearing with the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).
At the time, Dr Watts was also associate medical director of primary care services with NHS Tayside – a position she is understood to still hold.
Claire’s family are already taking legal proceedings against the doctor, but these have been paused while the fitness to practice hearing goes ahead.
The hearing, which will be held in Manchester next month, details three charges which Dr Watts faces.
One of the charges states that she “failed to record patient symptoms, including new symptoms she knew the patient had”.
It is alleged that she “failed to arrange appropriate investigations and consider appropriate diagnoses in two separate consultations”.
Another charge also reads that “the record Dr Watts made of the second consultation was misleading and dishonest”.
Claire, who was a popular pupil at Webster’s High School, had been ill for about two weeks due to an apparent viral infection.
While being cared for at home, her condition deteriorated rapidly and paramedics were unable to save the teen, who was a keen baker and had set her heart on a career as a dietician.
Following her death, it was revealed she had been suffering from Type 1 diabetes which is caused by an immune system problem.
Her mother, Helen, described Claire as a “popular wee girl” who had “a huge group of friends”, and her father, Malcolm, said his daughter was a “wee firecracker” who “gave everything 110%”.
Friends also paid tribute to the teen, who described her as an “innocent and kind” girl who had a “cheeky wee smile”.
Since Claire’s death, her family have raised significant funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Forum and held events to boost awareness of the condition.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by an immune system problem and those affected by it require multiple daily insulin injections or pump infusions.
Claire’s family said it was not appropriate to comment in advance of next month’s proceedings and the sisted court action.
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said: “We do not comment on matters relating to individual members of staff.”
