Tot’s ‘teething’ was meningitis

Cason Wright with his mum and dad Micelle Plevin and Craig Wright.

A MUM has hit out after staff at Oldham’s Integrated Care Centre dismissed the symptoms of her baby son’s meningitis as teething.

Michelle Plevin (25), from Cunliffe Drive, Shaw, said her six-month-old son Cason could have died if she had not spotted him having seizures after returning home from their visit to the town centre health service.

Now Miss Plevin, her GP, and GP practice manager are set to submit a formal complaint to the walk-in service.

The mum-of-four took Cason to the walk-in centre on September 15 with symptoms including a high temperature, being lethargic, not eating and crying when he was touched.

She said staff attributed the symptoms to Cason teething and she was advised to give him paracetamol and plenty of fluids. But within hours, he had suffered three consecutive fits and started to turn blue.

Miss Plevin said: “It was the worse thing I’ve ever seen. I called an ambulance and he was admitted to the Royal Oldham Hospital where they diagnosed bacterial meningitis.

He was put on oxygen and a drip. He also couldn’t breathe for himself as he had an upper respiratory infection as well.

“The hospital were really concerned about him.

“A nurse said if I hadn’t seen him having those fits and I’d have carried on giving him Calpol, he could have died.

“If I hadn’t called an ambulance, he could have died.”

Little Cason began to recover after two days in hospital and was well enough to be discharged after five.

But Miss Plevin said he suffered a further misdiagnosis last week when she visited the Integrated Care Centre on Wednesday.

She said: “He was unwell and was pulling his ear a lot, but the nurse who saw him said he just a bit snuffly.

“I made an appointment on Friday with my GP for peace of mind and he diagnosed an ear and chest infection.”

Miss Plevin is now making a formal complaint with the help of her GP and her GP practice manager.

She said: “They’ve seen Cason’s case notes and said an ambulance should have been called when he was really poorly.

“I’d like an apology from the ICC but also want to raise the issue as well.”

David Beckett, chief executive of Go To Doc, which runs the walk-in service, said: “We are really sorry to hear what happened to Cason and for the distress experienced by his family and we’re pleased he’s now recovered.

“We take any concern or complaint very seriously and always share what we find with families.

“As such we would urge Cason’s family to contact us directly so we can work with them to fully understand their concerns and address them where necessary.”

Mr Beckett said an investigation had been launched into both consultations.