Girl, five, dies of an asthma attack after GP refused to treat her because she was FOUR MINUTES late to an emergency appointment...even though the doctor knew the little girls life was at risk!

A critically ill little girl died hours after a GP refused to see her because she turned up a few minutes late for an emergency appointment. Astonishingly, the doctor is still practising after escaping with a ‘slap on the wrist’ at a secret disciplinary hearing. Ellie-May Clark, five, died of an asthma attack after Dr Joanne Rowe refused to see her – despite having previously been warned the girl was at risk of suffering a life-threatening seizure. The child’s distraught mother, Shanice, last night said they were just four minutes late for the appointment

An official report, uncovered by The Mail on Sunday, stated they were eight minutes late, but Shanice insisted that was incorrect as she checked the time on her mobile phone when she arrived. 

They were sent home and told to return in the morning, but Shanice discovered her ‘bright and happy’ daughter having an asthma attack and not breathing an hour after she put her to bed that night. She died minutes later.Details of the appalling blunder would have remained secret, because the doctors’ watchdog, the General Medical Council, held her disciplinary hearing behind closed doors. 

But the full facts can now be revealed following a Mail on Sunday investigation, which discovered a ‘confidential’ NHS report which damned Dr Rowe’s handling of the incident.