A video-call only GP wrongly diagnosed a former nurse and told the 92-year-old she was dying.
The pensioner was told to begin end-of-life care after a GP told her she had organ failure during a video consultation.
The heartbreaking diagnosis was given because the doctor was able to “spot from the video that her skin was yellow” the woman’s son, Michael Gough Cooper, was told.
His mum, who Michael does not wish to name, said the “feisty” former NHS worker suffers from dementia and lives in a care home on the Isle of Wight.
She was recovering well from a Covid diagnosis the previous week when her carers began to worry about her loss of appetite.
They reached out to the local surgery, Cowes Medical Centre, to try and organise a visit, The Daily Telegraph reported.
However, despite requesting an in-person visit the GP would allegedly only see the pensioner via video call.
Mr Gough Cooper, from Chiltington, West Sussex, received a call at home telling him the heart breaking news that his mum had been diagnosed with liver failure and would die.
This diagnosis would turn out to be false.
Mr Gough Cooper was “shocked” when he realised that the GP never visited his mother in-person before making such a severe diagnosis.
He rang up the doctors and asked for an explanation but was later contacted by a different doctor to the one who diagnosed his mum. They simply read from the appointment notes during their conversation.
When he asked how they could make such a diagnosis over video call, the GP explained that the first doctor “could spot from the video that her skin was yellow”.
Mr Gough Cooper argued the yellow skin could have been a lot of things but was told that was the GP’s conclusion.
He pushed on though and asked if the GP could visit his mother now but was told they couldn’t because of her recent Covid diagnosis.
Mr Cough Cooper did not know whether she was still testing positive at the time but said the care home had an “ample” supply of PPE.
The only way he could get a second opinion of the fatal diagnosis was to take his mother to A&E.
So after a four-night stay in hospital she was discharged and has since made a full recovery.
Mr Cough Cooper has now submitted a formal complaint to the Care Quality Commission about her treatment.
A senior GP for the practice told the Daily Telegraph said: “We are sorry to hear of the family’s experience. When a patient, their relative or carer, shares concerns like this we always offer to discuss the matter further.
"For our patients who are residents in care homes, we are in regular contact with the home [and] always support patients if the care home raises a concern relating to their health.”
Isle of Wight NHS Trust have been approached for comment.
