05 October 2023 , 07:09
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The family of a five-year-old boy who died a week after he was sent home from hospital have rejected a report which found that his care was appropriate.
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir died in November 2022, just eight days after he was seen at Rotherham Hospital and sent home with antibiotics. A report into Yusuf’s NHS care was published on Thursday after his family complained that he should have been admitted and given further treatment. Yusuf’s uncle, Zaheer Ahmed, insisted that they were told "there are no beds and not enough doctors."
He said his family questioned the independence of the report and that it was missing vital details about his nephew’s treatment. The report published by NHS South Yorkshire concluded: “We consider that on the basis of Yusuf’s observations, presentation and diagnosis there was a reasonable expectation that the antibiotics prescribed were appropriate and an admission was not clinically required.”
Zaheer Ahmed, the uncle of Yusuf Mahmud Nazir (PA)
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir who died on November 23 2022 (PA)The report set out how Yusuf, who had asthma, was taken to the GP with a sore throat on November 15. Later that evening, his parents took him to Rotherham Hospital Urgent & Emergency Care Centre (UECC) where he was seen after a six-hour wait. Yusuf was discharged with a diagnosis of severe tonsillitis and an extended prescription of antibiotics, the report said. Two days later, Yusuf was given further antibiotics by his GP for a possible chest infection. Still, his family became so concerned they called an ambulance and insisted the paramedics take him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital rather than Rotherham.
Yusuf was admitted to the intensive care unit six days after his initial hospital visit, but developed multi-organ failure and suffered several cardiac arrests which he did not survive. The report said there was only one doctor in the paediatric UECC on November 15 and that by the time Yusuf was seen that medic was responsible for covering both adults and children.
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But the report added: "The doctor who eventually saw Yusuf is an experienced UECC doctor who would not have needed to refer to a paediatrician on the basis of Yusuf’s presentation that night and would not have needed to do any further investigations or admit him. If he had seen him earlier, he would have been sent home earlier, he would not have requested an admission."
Mr Ahmed believes there are vital things missing from the report as it is 13 pages shorter than they were told it would be. He asks: "Are they hiding things?" The report said Yusuf experienced "a highly unusual inflammatory response" which led to respiratory failure, but the exact causation could not be determined as no post-mortem examination was conducted.
Mr Ahmed said his children, Yusuf’s cousins, still try to contact him by Facetime. He said: "Yusuf was a very, very jolly, playful child. A very happy child, very independent. He was really active and full of happiness and full of energy."
Dr Jo Beahan, medical director at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “All of us at the Trust were incredibly saddened by Yusuf’s tragic death and our thoughts remain with his family at this difficult time. We welcome the independent report that has followed the thorough investigation into the circumstances around Yusuf’s death.
"We note that sadly, despite the efforts of all the teams involved, the report concluded that Yusuf’s death couldn’t be avoided and that his initial medical care in A&E was appropriate for his condition at the time. We listened to the family’s concerns raised at the time and made some immediate changes following Yusuf’s death. We accept and are implementing the recommendations made in the report."