Top doctors failed meningitis boy

They may have seen him but they did not look too hard

FOUR of the state's top doctors failed to give eight-year-old meningitis victim Isaraelu Pele the one test that could have saved his life. As a full investigation into Isaraelu's death was announced, the Children's Hospital at Westmead admitted the boy was not given a test for meningitis during his nine hours under its care. The revelation came as almost 300 mourners farewelled the talented rugby union player at a moving memorial service.

The Children's Hospital at Westmead CEO Tony Penna admitted four senior doctors failed to recognise the symptoms of meningitis that killed Isaraelu last Tuesday. He said the boy had been seen by "all the senior staff", including the resident registrar and consultant fellow, during his time at the hospital. But he revealed the battery of tests run on the Year 2 Punchbowl Public School student did not include a lumbar puncture - the one test that would have diagnosed his condition.

Less than 24 hours after doctors told Isaraelu's family he was merely dehydrated, the child was dead. [If he was dehydrated, he should have been put on a drip] Dr Penna announced a full investigation, headed by an external expert and with the input of Isaraelu's grief-stricken family, would be held. "This is a tragic event, we really do need to look into this objectively with a proper investigation," he said. "I stand by the competence and expertise of my staff." Dr Penna said it would be inefficient to test every child who presented at hospital for meningitis showing symptoms such as vomiting and headaches. The disease could progress rapidly from general symptoms to a serious condition, he said. All tests conducted on Isaraelu, including a blood count, came back normal.

But that was of little comfort to mourners who packed the Congregational Christian Church at Moorebank yesterday. In a moving tribute to his young brother, Andrew Pele, 19, joked that Isaraelu had been the favourite and that he was "a very good kid". Mourners included the schoolboy's parents Lila and Fai, who watched as Andrew played the guitar and was joined by other friends and relatives in a tribute song. Outside the chapel a family friend was scathing of the hospital staff, saying that, in his belief, if four senior doctors failed to even consider meningitis as a possibility "they should not be practising medicine".

"This is not a woman who came with her first newborn," the friend said. "She's a mother of six who knew something was really wrong with her child. The way this family has been treated is disgusting." Isaraelu's body was last night at the family's home where a vigil was held in his bedroom ahead of a funeral today.

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A small victory for private property in South Australia

CHARGES against a man accused of resisting arrest and refusing to give police his personal details have been thrown out because officers were trespassing on his property when they arrested him.

The Supreme Court upheld a magistrate's decision to dismiss charges against Seaton man Alexander Dafov, who police had followed home after detecting him allegedly driving at 78km/h in a 60km/h zone. Police had appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing officers had authority to be on Mr Dafov's property and were not trespassing. But Supreme Court Justice Michael David upheld the decision, saying police misinterpreted the law they used to justify being on Mr Dafov's property.

The court heard in October, 2006, police allegedly detected Mr Dafov travelling 18km/h over the speed limit on West Lakes Boulevard at Hendon. They activated their lights and sirens and followed the vehicle to a Seaton address where the car stopped. The officers approached Mr Dafov in his driveway and asked him for his personal details but Mr Dafov told them to "get off my property" and they were trespassing. They attempted to arrest Mr Dafov and there was a struggle.

Justice David said the law had to state clearly if police were allowed onto someone's property and the section they relied on in Mr Dafov's case, relating to asking a driver to stop and answer questions, did not do so. "It means that if a person is on private property and does not consent to police presence, and the police wish to use this provision to obtain information, they need to wait until the person leaves the property to question him," he said. "However, one would think that in the circumstances of this case, the police could have used the vehicle's registration number to obtain the details of the vehicle's owner." South Australian Council of Civil Liberties president George Mancini said the judgment reflected the "private rights of the individual".

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Queensland: A child safety crackdown at last?

BESIEGED Child Safety Minister Margaret Keech wants bad parents to attend court-ordered parenting classes or lose their children. She also wants to stop dysfunctional parents from regaining custody of their children, even if their lives are back on track.

Mrs Keech will next year ask Cabinet to approve tougher legislative measures, including more proscriptive definitions for the judiciary. Children who continually have lice in their hair or are sent to school without food could be subject to early interventions under radical changes.

Mrs Keech told The Courier-Mail she would discuss with Attorney-General Kerry Shine how courts could be empowered to force bad parents to attend parenting courses. "I have asked my department to prepare options that would strengthen our case if, say, we were applying for a long-term care order," she said. "It might be that the court could give weight to whether a parent or parents had refused, or failed, to complete a parenting, anger-management or possibly a substance abuse course in determining whether their children should remain in the home," she said.

Premier Anna Bligh and federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin announced a trial last week requiring indigenous families to meet basic responsibilities in order to receive welfare payments. Separate to the announcement, Mrs Keech said her proposed child safety initiatives were not a reaction to the public outrage over the case of an indigenous girl who was pack raped in Aurukun. Mrs Keech said she was looking at ways to lower the threshold to allow child safety officers to investigate suspected child abuse earlier.

Asked if that could dramatically increase the workload of an already stretched department she said: "If it means more notifications, then that's what will happen. "If it means more resources I will go to the Treasurer and the Premier and put a strong case forward . . . for more resources."

New guidelines will be developed for investigating officers under the cumulative harm program. "It could be a bruise on the head or a sore shoulder or dislocation. Minor health issues, not coming to school with lunch/breakfast, lice in their hair, more neglect issues." She said child protection would always be a major issue in Queensland because of a surging population, but the welfare of children had to come before the wellbeing of parents. Bad parents who turn their lives around should not always regain custody of their children, she said. "In the past there's been too much of the kids drifting backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards . . . if the child is well and happy and attached to the foster carer, that's exactly where they should stay," Mrs Keech said.

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Australia to stay in Afghanistan



THE Prime Minister has given an open-ended commitment for Australian troops to remain in Afghanistan as he revealed he fears more fatalities. Kevin Rudd met Australian troops at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province before flying to Kabul, where he held a press conference with the President, Hamid Karzai. It was the latest stop in Mr Rudd's tour of the Middle East with his Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, and the Chief of Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, to thank military personnel and meet political and military leaders.

Mr Rudd said it had been a difficult end to the year and worse could be to come. "I fear what the new year might bring," he told soldiers in central headquarters at Kabul air base on Saturday. "But our advice and our conviction is that this is a job worth doing."

Three Australians have been killed in southern Afghanistan since early October: Trooper David "Poppy" Pearce by a roadside bomb; an SAS veteran, Matthew Locke, by a sniper; and a commando, Luke Worsley, shot dead at close range during an attack on a Taliban bomb-making complex.

Earlier, Mr Rudd had committed an additional $110 million in aid to Afghanistan over the next two years, taking the total to about $270 million. "Australia is here in Afghanistan for a long haul," Mr Rudd said, without offering a time limit on the involvement of Australian forces. He urged NATO countries to lift their contribution after Afghanistan suffered its bloodiest year of fighting since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. "There are important meetings coming up over the next several months," Mr Rudd said. "I would also be encouraging other friends and partners and allies in NATO to continue their commitment to this country and where possible to expand that commitment."

There are about 60,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan, many undertaking only training roles rather than front-line fighting. The US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, has said at least another 7500 troops are required, while some analysts say troop numbers need to be doubled to combat the resurgent Taliban. The Rudd Government has not ruled out sending more troops to Afghanistan as it draws down from Iraq, but will probably require similar action by other NATO countries first....

Mr Rudd's visit was part of a flurry of trips by world leaders. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Italy's Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, both flew into Kabul within 24 hours of Mr Rudd.

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