A young boy who died from dehydration, gastroenteritis and norovirus may have faced a delay of five hours before he was seen by a doctor, a court was told yesterday.
A fatal accident inquiry into Leylan Forte’s death in Montrose on April 27, 2015, will be held next year.
The four-year-old suffered from suspected autism, cerebral palsy, an eating disorder and wasn’t able to communicate.
A preliminary hearing at Forfar Sheriff Court heard the probe would look into whether out-of-hours helpline NHS 24 and Leylan’s GP practice, Annat Bank Surgery in Montrose, “responded adequately” to calls.
The court heard NHS 24 was contacted at 6am and the surgery at 8.20am.
Carol Whyte, procurator fiscal depute to the inquiry, said the Crown’s information suggested that a GP then went to assess Leylan at 11am.
She added a pathologist would comment on whether the delay is likely to have contributed to Leylan’s death.
Helen Watts, counsel for NHS 24, said: “It would be my suspicion that a pathologist would not be the best person to comment.”
The preliminary hearing was continued until December 13.
The fatal accident inquiry has been ordered because of “serious public concern about his death”.
Last year Leylan’s devastated parents threatened to sue NHS 24 over his death, after receiving a report from a professor of medicine in which, according to them, the expert expressed a belief that the official health helpline had given them wrong advice.
Leylan’s mother, Leanne Smith, who has herself since died, told a reporter at the time: “With better advice Leylan might still be alive.”
