NHS failed to hear concerns of family in death of five-year-old boy

A new report into the death of a five-year-old boy who died days after being sent home from a hospital emergency department has found the NHS failed to listen to a “mother’s instinct”.

Yusuf Nazir died eight days after he was prescribed antibiotics by staff at Rotherham General Hospital to treat a lung infection.

The 139-page report said the concerns of Yusuf’s family were repeatedly not acknowledged by healthcare providers.

The health service said it accepted the report’s recommendations and acknowledged the issues the investigation had uncovered.

Yusuf, who had asthma, died after the infection spread to his lungs.

He was first seen by a GP on 15 November 2022 and prescribed antibiotics. He was taken to Rotherham General Hospital’s emergency department, but was discharged with more medication.

Yusuf’s family said they were told they were “no beds and not enough doctors” and their son could not be admitted.

On November 18, he was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital and three days later he was admitted to intensive care.

On 23 November Yusuf died after multiple organ failure and several cardiac arrests as a result of the infection.

A report into Yusuf’s case in October 2023, by independent consultants and published by NHS South Yorkshire, found his care was appropriate and “an admission was not clinically required”, but this was rejected by his family.

The new report, led by the former general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Peter Carter, found “a reliance on clinical metrics over caregiver insight caused distress for the family”.

It said: “This led to a lack of shared decision-making and there was limited evidence of collaborative discussions with Yusuf’s family around clinical decisions, leading to a sense of exclusion and reduced trust in care plans.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who met Yusuf’s family last year, said their concerns had “repeatedly not been addressed” by the NHS.

He said: “There are no excuses for the tragic failings in the lead up to Yusuf’s death and I know first hand how hard it has been for his family to live without the answers they deserve.

“It is now the responsibility of the NHS to implement the recommendations in this report so that the family can at least take small comfort in knowing that because of Yusuf, and thanks to Yusuf, children will be safer and better cared for in the future.”

The family has called on the NHS to learn lessons from Yusuf’s death.

His mother, Sonyia Ahmed, said: “The failings identified are truly shocking. Yusuf deserved better, every child does.

“I will never stop speaking his name. I will never stop fighting for him. We demand accountability, we demand change.

“This is why we want an inquest.”