GPs at large clinic didn’t see ‘big picture’ of care
Poor continuity of care led to the delayed diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever in a child, finds New Zealand's health commissioner
Three New Zeland GPs have been censured over a delayed diagnosis of rheumatic fever in a child, with the country’s health commissioner also critical of a lack of continuity of care in large practices.
The six-year-old girl consulted two GPs from a large clinic three times between mid-December 2018 and mid-January 2019.
A fourth consultation with a third GP occurred in a different practice.
Each time the girl presented to a GP she complained of intermittent wrist or severe foot pain and fevers and, at the final consultation, a cough.
