Miss F, an overweight 11-year-old, attended her GP, Dr A, complaining of knee pain and clicking for two months following a twisting injury whilst playing football...

Child H, a three-year-old boy, was brought into the Emergency Department (ED) of a private hospital by his mother, having inhaled or swallowed a little building brick. They brought a similar piece with them. Child H was seen by a doctor, Dr W, who documented that he appeared well, with no signs of respiratory distress and a normal auscultation. Dr W arranged for him to have a chest x-ray, which both Dr W and a radiologist considered normal.

Three-year-old Matthew was brought to the local A&E department by his mum, Mrs U. She told Dr M, the attending doctor, that Matthew had fallen from a chair three days ago and, although he seemed unharmed at the time, he was now refusing to walk.

Surgery for an arachnoid cyst is complicated by an intracranial bleed.

Dr Michele Afif, Medicolegal Adviser at Medical Protection, reflects on her experiences of working in paediatrics

At presentation, Peter was 14 years old and had presented with migraines since the age of 8. He was taking Pizotifen and his headaches were well controlled. Over the past four weeks he had started getting headaches again. They were in a similar location to his migraines, but were different in nature – he couldn’t put his finger on exactly how.

Mrs G, 34, presented to the delivery suite at 12pm, 38 weeks into her first pregnancy. Her antenatal care had been uneventful apart from measuring slightly “large for dates”. She was found to have a longitudinal lie with a cephalic presentation, and was experiencing three contractions every ten minutes. The midwife examined her and found her to be 2cm dilated with a fully effaced cervix and “intact membranes”.

A baby was born by caesarean section at 27 weeks gestation with a birth weight of 980grams. The baby was intubated, ventilated and endotracheal surfactant was administered.

Mrs X gave birth to J, a healthy baby boy. J was discharged, with a note in the records stating he was a “normal healthy infant”; a further note stated that, on examination, there was a bilateral red reflex.

Complaints in health and social care: standards and guidelines for resolution and learning (2009) aims to provide a simple, consistent approach for staff who handle complaints, and for patients who raise complaints across all health and social care services.

A girl of eight, L, was brought by ambulance to the Emergency Department (ED) with a history of a fit during a lesson in school. There was no reliable history: according to friends who had been playing with L, she had touched an electrical socket, fallen, and then had a fit lasting about five minutes, from which she spontaneously recovered.

Many new doctors are pushed to the limits of their competence – if you feel out of your depth speak up before it’s too late, says Dr Jo Pointon.

Miss T was 17 years old and still at college when she became pregnant with her first child. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy at term, and was discharged the following day, with planned midwifery follow-up at home. At one month old, Miss T became concerned that her infant, baby T, appeared to be having occasional odd movements of his left hand.

Baby P was born by vaginal delivery at home in the early hours of the morning. By lunchtime his mother became concerned that he looked yellow, and discussed this with her midwife. The midwife reassured her, saying that the baby was not washed up yet.

Baby O, the son of a European mother and North African father, was born at term in the early 1990s and had his first vaccinations at three months old; the health visitor left the section dealing with TB and BCG tests blank on the vaccination card.

Miss S was born with a very large umbilical hernia. Her consultant paediatrician remarked that it was the largest he had ever seen, and asked a surgical colleague, Mr A, to advise. Mr A told Miss S’s mother that the hernia needed surgery, as it would be unlikely to reduce spontaneously. Miss S’s parents gave their consent for the operation.