Misconduct proven against doctor who allegedly failed to refer seriously ill boys to A&E – The Irish Times

A doctor who allegedly failed to refer a teenager with testicular torsion and a three-week-old boy with meningitis to A&E has had findings of professional misconduct and poor performance proven against her.

At a Medical Council hearing on Tuesday the committee found proven each of the allegations of fact against Dr Alicia Marton Martinez, with an address in Spain, and who was a locum at the SouthDoc treatment centre in Midleton, Co Cork.

The inquiry heard evidence on Monday from the mother of the teenage boy how on October 8th, 2022, her son, then 14, was complaining of lower abdominal pain and a swollen testicle.

The woman explained the symptoms her child had to Dr Marton Martinez, initially over the phone.

It was alleged Dr Marton Martinez then advised the mother that it was normal for teenage boys to have a swollen testicle, that a cold compress should be applied and that he take a course of Ibuprofen for one week.

However, the mother wanted her son to be seen, so his groin area was examined by Dr Marton Martinez at SouthDoc in Midleton later that morning.

The doctor repeated her earlier advice and said it was typical for teenage boys to have a swollen testicle, the mother said.

Dr Marton Martinez made a clinical finding of orchitis, an inflammation of the testicle, and noted the patient was in discomfort rather than in real pain.

However, the following Saturday, the mother, who was abroad, was told by her sister that the boy was “bowled over with pain”.

After being referred immediately by SouthDoc to Cork University Hospital (CUH), where he was diagnosed with testicular torsion, his left testicle was removed that evening.

The committee found that Dr Marton Martinez did not have due regard to the teenager’s presenting complaints and symptoms of concern as communicated to her by his mother.

Committee members agreed with the evidence of Prof Tom O’Dowd, expert witness for the chief executive of the Medical Council, that the presentation of a young male with such symptoms required treatment in hospital and that this met the serious threshold.

The committee also found proven that the course of treatment advised to the mother was not adequate or appropriate in circumstances where Dr Marton Martinez ought to have known this.

Committee members found that, considering the symptoms that the mother told Dr Marton Martinez her son had, her failure to directly refer him to an emergency department was a serious failure in treatment.

Separately, the inquiry on Monday heard from a father who said he told Dr Marton Martinez on the evening of November 12th, 2022, how his three-week-old son had a fever, a temperature of 37.8 degrees and, among other symptoms, was feeding more slowly, was quite pale and had a mottled appearance to his skin.

The father said the response of Dr Marton Martinez was that the symptoms did not sound very severe. He said she asked him had he given Calpol to the baby. Calpol can only be given to children of two months and older.

He then drove his wife and child to SouthDoc in Midleton, where another doctor referred his son to CUH.

The infant was treated “very urgently” and diagnosed with viral meningitis, he said.

Committee members did not find credible Dr Marton Martinez’s explanation that she gave in the context of other proceedings that she thought the patient was aged nine years old.

The committee found proven that Dr Marton Martinez failed to have due regard to the infant’s presenting complaints and/or symptoms of concern as communicated to her by his father and that this was a serious failure.

In circumstances where a three-week-old baby presented with a high temperature, the committee found that Dr Marton Martinez’s failure to refer him to an emergency department was a serious failure.

The committee found that each of the proven allegations amounted to poor professional performance as these were a serious failure by Dr Marton Martinez to meet the standards of competence in knowledge and skill that can be reasonably expected of doctors.

Committee members also found that each of the allegations amounted to professional misconduct.

The committee found that Dr Marton Martinez had failed to properly treat unwell patients who were also children, that such presentations were not unusual in general practice and that she failed to refer either patient to an emergency department.

Dr Marton Martinez did not attend the hearing on Tuesday and was not represented.

Paul Harkin, who chaired the committee, told the inquiry the chief executive and Dr Marton Martinez had until November 28th to submit written submissions about a sanction.

The committee will meet in December to consider its recommendations to the Medical Council about a sanction.