Baby P Doctor To Sue NHS

A Consultant Paediatrician involved in the Baby P case, who claimed she was forced out of her job, is to sue the NHS.

Dr Kim Holt, who raised concerns about the clinic where Baby P was seen just days before his death, is seeking £100,000 from her former employer Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh).

After filing a complaint in 2006, she was signed off with stress and claims she has been prevented from returning to her original post.

She believes that if changes had been made, Baby P's life could have been saved as a result.

Leigh Day & Co Solicitors stated that Dr Holt had filed a personal injury claim against the central London children's hospital.

Through employer Gosh, Dr Holt was supplied to Haringey PCT in north London.

In August 2007, she was based at the clinic in St Ann's Hospital, who failed to identify Baby P's broken back, when they saw him two days before he died.

Baby Peter was seen 60 times by social workers, doctors and police over the eight months before his death.

Dr Holt had made a formal complaint regarding a "chaotic" appointments system and staff shortages at the clinic.

A spokesman at Gosh said there was "some foundation" to the claims and that an action plan was being devised.

Having made a complaint regarding her workload, Dr Holt was signed off with stress in February 2007. She now works in a different area of the Trust and claims she has not been allowed back to her original post.

Dr Holt continues to receive a salary of between £75,000 and £100,000.

The hospital confirmed the trust had received a solicitors letter but due to "possible future litigation" they refused to comment further.

An NHS London independent investigation concluded that her concerns were taken seriously.

It also found that she was not targeted for raising concerns.

(BMcN/GK)