Baby P doctor is removed from medical register at her own request

Consultant paediatrician Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat was facing disciplinary action at the General Medical Council over her care of the toddler.

But a GMC fitness to practise panel granted her request for “voluntary erasure” from the medical register, meaning she avoided a full misconduct hearing.

Dr Al-Zayyat has admitted that she “failed” 17-month-old Baby P, now named as Peter Connelly, it emerged at yesterday’s hearing.

She examined the little boy at a child development clinic at St Ann’s Hospital in Tottenham, north London, on August 1, 2007.

But she allegedly missed his injuries after deciding she could not carry out a full check-up because he was “miserable and cranky”.

Two days later, Peter died at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and his brother. They were all jailed in May 2009.

A post-mortem examination found he had probably suffered serious injuries, including a broken back and fractured ribs, before he was examined by the doctor, their trial heard.

The GMC panel quoted a letter from the doctor, dated October last year, in which she said: “I am deeply sorry from the bottom of my heart (for) the tragic death of P....

“His death will be with me until the last day of my life.

“I am extremely sorry with regret as I failed the child and let my patient down. I fell below the standard expected of me on the day.”

Dr Al-Zayyat qualified in Pakistan and worked in Saudi Arabia before coming to the UK in 2004.