My sorrow, by doctor who failed baby p

Consultant Sabah Al Zayyat said she was deeply shocked by the death of the 17-month-old boy just two days after she saw him following months of savage abuse.

Dr Al Zayyat, 52, decided against giving him a full examination because the child was “miserable and cranky” and did not discover his shattered spine or nine fractured ribs.

The paediatrician is the only person to be sacked despite the failures of 28 social workers, police and hospital staff to save Baby P. Yesterday she issued a statement saying: “I have been deeply affected by the shocking and tragic circumstances of this young child’s death. My professional career has been devoted to the care of children. I will co-operate with any inquiry to identify whether lessons can be learned.”

In August last year, Baby P was taken to St Ann’s Hospital, Tottenham, North London, where he was looked at by Dr Al Zayyat.

The Old Bailey heard that the child’s spinal injury was likely to have left him paralysed from the waist down. The doctor found 10 bruises near his shoulders but accepted the explanation that he had been “banging his back against his cot”, the court was told. She insisted that the boy “wasn’t in any discomfort”. 

Baby P, who had been on Haringey social services’ “at risk” register for eight months, died two days later.

Outside court, Dr Jane Collins, chief executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: “Dr Al Zayyat should have identified the possibility that he had suffered non-accidental injuries.”

Dr Al Zayyat’s contract with Great Ormond Street – which runs children’s medical services at St Ann’s – was terminated in May over the Baby P case and it is understood that she is appealing. She can still work in the NHS.

It emerged yesterday that GP Jerome Kaine Ikwueke put doctors on “full alert” after he saw the child covered in bruises in December, 2006.

Baby P’s mother, her boyfriend and their lodger will be sentenced at the Old Bailey next month for “causing or allowing” the death.