Family of young boy who died after getting sent home from Rotherham Hospital insist he 'should still be alive'
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir's uncle is heading down to Parliament again today
The family of a 5-year-old boy - who died after getting sent home from Rotherham Hospital - tell us they 'won't rest' until a fresh investigation into his death is launched.
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir died after getting diagnosed with severe tonsilitis in November of 2022.
Yusuf's uncle - Zaheer Amhed - is meeting the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care - Victoria Atkins - later today at Parliament to discuss his nephew's case:
"We're wanting to address all our concerns directly with the Health Secretary, so she can see what's been happening and understand why we're disappointed with the previous investigation.
"Hopefully, we can agree for another investigation into the circumstances surrounding Yusuf's death to be carried out.
"It's been very, very difficult for our family since Yusuf passed away.
"He was a child who should not have died.
"In this day and age, a child dying with tonsillitis is just not acceptable.
"We don't want any other child to go through this.
"We don't want any other family to have to travel down to the Houses of Parliament for these reasons.
"Yusuf was struggling to breathe, he was having choking episodes, he wasn't able to drink, and he couldn't talk."
Previously, Yusuf's family travelled down to the Houses of Parliament last month to meet with the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care - Wes Streeting.
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir died on 23rd November 2022 - eight days after he was seen at Rotherham Hospital and sent home with antibiotics to treat severe tonsillitis.
An independent inquiry took place looking into Yusuf's care, after his family complained that he should have been admitted and given intravenous antibiotics on the night of November 15th.
Yusuf's uncle, Zaheer Ahmed, says the family raised repeated concerns about breathing episodes where Yusuf kept jerking awake and gasping for air. He doesn't feel they were properly listened to or taken seriously.
The report set out how Yusuf, who had asthma, was taken to the GP with a sore throat on November 15, as he had a sore throat and was feeling unwell, and he was prescribed antibiotics by an advanced nurse practitioner.
Later that evening, his parents took him to Rotherham Hospital Urgent & Emergency Care Centre (UECC) where he was seen in the early hours of the morning 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, but his family became so concerned they called an ambulance and insisted the paramedics take him to Sheffield Children's Hospital rather than Rotherham.
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."
It also concluded that "a bed would have been found" if an admission had been deemed necessary.
It found that there were effectively 22 beds on the children's assessment unit and the children's ward and, between 1am and 5am on November 16, between 17 and 19 were occupied.
Dr Jo Beahan, Medical Director at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “All of us were incredibly saddened by Yusuf’s tragic death. Our thoughts and sympathies continue to be with Yusuf’s family.
“We fully cooperated with the independent investigation into Yusuf’s death which was published in October, which found the medical care provided to Yusuf in Rotherham’s Urgent and Emergency Care Centre was appropriate, and there was nothing that could have been done differently that would have changed the tragic outcome.”