Girl, five, dies of asthma attack after GP turned her away for being eight minutes late

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Paul Davies

A five-year-old girl died of an asthma attack just hours after being turned away by a GP for being late to an emergency appointment.

Ellie-May Clark's family have decided to speak out after it emerged the doctor involved received only a written warning.

They say their lives "have been left shattered" following the schoolgirl's death in January 2015, just five hours after Dr Joanne Rowe told her and her mother to return the following day as they were eight minutes late.

Brandi Clark, Ellie-May's grandmother branded the doctor's actions "disgusting" and questioned why Dr Rowe was still a GP, now working in Cardiff.

Ms Clark added that the General Medical Council's (GMC) written warning to the former-Newport GP amounted to nothing more than a "rap on the knuckles" and that the family were kept in the dark over the investigation.

Ms Clark continued that she was "livid" with the outcome, adding that there was a chance Dr Rowe could "do it to someone else, turn someone else away".

The formal written warning from the GMC to Dr Rowe said: "You did not consider the medical history of the child or provide advice on how the child's parents could access alternative medical care.

"The child died later that evening of asthma.

"Your failure to see and assess this child does not meet with the standards required of a doctor."

The warning will stay on Dr Rowe's record for five years and the GMC said it had been published on the online register for patients and employers to see.

Dr Rowe - who reportedly had a reputation for being "unapproachable and volatile" has refused to apologise or comment on the event.

An investigation into the death is ongoing.