A Birmingham doctor has been issued a warning by the General Medical Council after misdiagnosing a woman with breast cancer, who later had to have her breast removed.
GP Dr Mary Elizabeth O’Gorman was hauled before the GMC over her dealings with a patient at Victoria Road Surgery, in Acocks Green.
The panel heard a female patient complained that for more than a year between 2005 and 2007 Dr O’Gorman failed to refer her to a specialist despite a lump in her breast. The woman claimed this delayed her being diagnosed with breast cancer, which led to her needing a mastectomy.
The official warning remains on Dr O’Gorman’s record for five years. It states she incorrectly diagnosed the lump, failed to refer the patient for further assessment and failed to record adequate details of the examination. A GMC official said: “The patient complained that Dr O’Gorman failed in her duty of care towards her.
“She subsequently had to have a mastectomy and undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This had a considerable impact on her, her husband, and her young family, and in any view is a most sad and tragic course of events. Dr O’Gorman states she now deeply regrets any mistakes she may have made and while these failings in themselves are not so serious as to require any restriction on your registration, it is necessary in response to issue this formal warning.”
