A GP who missed a patient’s flesh-eating disease because she was working from home and then fled to India has been hit with a £128,000 medical negligence bill.
Dr Nupur Mittal had failed to arrange a same-day face-to-face consultation with Oriana McDonald, who was ‘systematically unwell’ when she called the doctor’s surgery, a legal claim states.
Two days later, Ms McDonald was admitted to hospital and underwent emergency surgery, where doctors removed a large portion of damaged tissue from her stomach area, leaving her with ‘significant scarring’.
Ms McDonald, 57, who required plastic surgery over the ‘unsightly’ abdominal scar, sued Dr Mittal for personal injury, loss and damage as well as pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Reading County Court heard Mittal had not responded to the original lawsuit having moved to India, and in a hearing last month the debt was secured against her Berkshire home.
It is not suggested Dr Mittal was living in India at the time she was treating the claimant, in July 2018.
Dr Mittal was working at the Waterfield Practice in Bracknell when, on July 6 2018, she had a face-to-face consultation with Ms McDonald, an NHS patient, who reported having found a lump on her stomach and told the doctor she had a temperature of 36.6C, court documents show.
The GP allegedly did not examine Ms McDonald or take her temperature, but prescribed antibiotics and diagnosed her with cellulitis.
Dr Nupur Mittal has been hit with a £128,000 medical negligence bill after she failed to arrange a same-day face-to-face consultation with Oriana McDonald, who was ‘systematically unwell’ when she called the doctor’s surgery
Since late 2024, Dr Mittal has been running the Ambala Wellness Clinic – in Ambala, a city in northern India – which boasts of her ’20 years of international experience in the UK’
The patient reported she ‘began to feel worse’ and telephoned the practice three days later, on July 9 2018.
Nicholas Truelove, Ms McDonald’s barrister, wrote in a claim form: ‘The claimant reported that she felt worse, could not move, the redness had spread, and that she was sweating.
‘The defendant prescribed Metronidazole [an antibiotic] and did not review the claimant face-to-face or request the claimant attend accident and emergency.’
Two days later, on July 11 2018, Ms McDonald’s partner called for an ambulance because she was ‘in pain and less alert’ and he was concerned that the situation had become urgent.
The claimant was diagnosed with a very large abscess or cyst on the abdominal wall with signs of sepsis, Mr Truelove said.
He added: ‘The suspicion was of necrotising fasciitis and the claimant underwent same-day emergency surgery debridement of the anerior abdominal wall.’
Necrotising fasciitis, also known as the ‘flesh-eating disease’, is a rare and life-threatening infection that starts in a wound.
Ms McDonald was subsequently admitted to the ICU and later had plastic surgery to close her open wound on September 20 2018.
Reading County Court heard Mittal had not responded to the original lawsuit while she was living in India and in a hearing last month the debt was secured against her Berkshire home
Dr Mittal was working at the Waterfield Practice in Bracknell when, on July 6 2018, she had a face-to-face consultation with Ms McDonald, an NHS patient, who reported having found a lump on her stomach and told the doctor she had a temperature of 36.6C
Mr Truelove said Dr Mittal was in breach of her duty of care on July 9 2018, as she should have either seen Ms McDonald or advised her to go to A&E for review.
The barrister said Ms McDonald’s illness would have been at an early stage if she had gone to A&E on that day, which would have meant she would likely have had a shorter recovery period, shorter period of hospitalisation, and significantly less scarring without an open wound.
‘The claimant would crucially have also avoided the sizeable lower abdominal scar that is unsightly, leaving her without an umbilicus and asymmetrical overhang as a result of the extensive soft tissue debridement.’
Dr Mittal, who was living abroad at the time the original judgment was made against her, did not submit a defence, and Ms McDonald succeeded in establishing she was liable for the failure to diagnose her, which caused her injuries.
Deputy District Judge Simon Lindsey told a hearing at Reading County Court last month that Dr Mittal had sent an application on June 27 last year to have the original judgment against her set aside.
‘Apparently she was living in India at that time’, the judge said on January 15 this year. ‘But she did not pay the fee and did not provide the necessary information so that application was never advanced.
‘The defendant has essentially been given an opportunity to put in an application to set aside the judgment, that has not been done.’
The court heard Dr Mittal’s husband, who she was in the process of divorcing from, had objected to the charging order being made on their home, but Judge Lindsey said the debt would only be added to Dr Mittal’s share.
Judge Lindsey said: ‘In light of the value of the debt, which is just over £120,000, it seems to me the appropriate course is to protect that debt by making a final charging order.’
Martha Garcia, representing Ms McDonald, asked for her client to be awarded extra costs in the case, pointing out Dr Mittal ‘was given generous indulgence’ by the court, which allowed her an opportunity to try and contest the case by filing a witness statement.
‘None of those case management directions were complied with’, Ms Garcia argued. ‘It does show disregard for court directions and it has caused the claimant to wait a further five months and incur a further brief fee for counsel.’
Judge Lindsey declined to order extra costs, which he said would be ‘excessive’. But said he would order that the total fee from the judgement, plus interest, of £128,204.30 could be secured against Dr Mittal’s beneficial interest in her home.
Dr Mittal, formerly of Ralphs Ride in Bracknell, arrived at court in person after the hearing had concluded, but was told she was too late to attend and inquired about an appeal. The court told the Daily Mail on Wednesday it had not received any appeal from her.
Since late 2024, Dr Mittal has been running the Ambala Wellness Clinic – in Ambala, a city in northern India – which boasts of her ’20 years of international experience in the UK’.
Contacted for comment over the case, a spokesperson for the clinic said it ‘is in the appeals court’.
Reading county court told the Mail on Wednesday it had not received any appeal.
