Hospital GP mistook cardiac symptoms for bronchitis

A patient who repeatedly presented to a regional hospital complaining of headaches and shortness of breath was wrongly diagnosed with bronchitis by a locum emergency department GP, a disciplinary hearing has been told.

The 42-year-old soon had a respiratory collapse resulting in hypoxic brain injury, and now lives in an aged-care home requiring round-the-clock care.

The Medical Council of NSW’s Professional Standards Committee was told the patient presented at Mudgee Hospital’s emergency department three times in four days in January 2015.