A bungling doctor could be struck off after sending a four-year-old boy home from North Middlesex Hospital with a packet of Nurofen when he was suffering from a fatal strain of meningitis.

Dr Jayanthy Gnananandrar, known as Dr Nana, failed to record the boy, known only as DG, was lethargic and repeatedly vomiting when his mother brought him to the hospital in Sterling Way, on February 20, 2003.

The General Medical Council (GMC) heard the doctor noted the youngster was alert' and sent him home, telling his mother to give him painkillers.

He died the next day of acute bacteria meningitis.

The boy's mother, known as Mrs G, told the hearing how she had fought in vain to try and revive her son after finding his lifeless body in bed.

The GMC found Dr Nana guilty of inappropriate and unprofessional conduct on Tuesday.

She was cleared of failing to arrange for the boy's admission to hospital after the committee decided his symptoms did not indicate he should be rushed into a ward at the time he was seen by a doctor.

Dr Nana was also cleared of failing to check for the killer illness and of failing to make an accurate assessment and diagnosis of DG's condition.

But the committee decided her conduct was inappropriate, unprofessional and not in DG's best interests by failing to record he had been vomiting and by claiming he was alert'.

She also failed to advise Mrs G she should get further medical attention for her son if he continued vomiting, became unresponsive or developed a rash.

The committee also decided Dr Nana had failed to provide proper care to 80-year-old Alice Long, who she was treating at the busy Keats Surgery, in Church Street, Edmonton.

Mrs Long died of acute renal failure on September 11, 2002.

Dr Nana had not seen the patient since June 23, 1999. She had failed to make an adequate assessment of the pensioner and had not reviewed the suitability of her medication regime or provided proper follow-up care.

The panel decided Dr Nana's conduct in caring for Mrs Long was also inappropriate, unprofessional and not in her best interests.

They are now deciding whether Dr Nana's blunders should put an end to her professional career.

GMC Chairman Dr Ian Neale said: "The public rightly expects the highest standards of behaviour from registered practitioners.

"Such misconduct undermines the public's confidence and trust in medical practitioners."

Dr Nana, who qualified in Sri Lanka in 1976, insisted she had properly examined DG and told the hearing: "I can easily recognise a sick child from a healthy child."

She maintained the boy was alert' while sitting on his mother's lap during the examination.

A decision is expected in four months time.