MEDICS MISSED JESSI'S KIDNEY CANCER

Sheriff hits out at doctors who failed to probe what turned out to be disease

- DAVID MEIKLE

A LITTLE girl died from a rare cancer after doctors repeatedly missed signs of her illness, a sheriff has ruled.

Jessi-Jean MacLennan was just 20 months old when she passed away in November 2019.

She had been suffering from a form of kidney cancer known as Wilms' tumour, a rare childhood condition with fewer than 50 cases per year in the UK.

Currently, even an advanced stage Wilms' tumour has a cure rate of 85 per cent.

The Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain said Jessi's death gave rise to "serious" public concern and ordered a fatal accident inquiry be held at Inverness Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald has now ruled medics failed to properly recognise her illness after her mother Sara raised the alarm about her condition.

Sara had noticed Jessi's appetite had decreased in July 2019 and took her to Culloden surgery in Inverness with her concerns, which also included a high temperature.