NHS staff told to take ‘extra caution’ extracting organs after ‘brain-dead’ baby starts breathing
NHS staff have been told to take “extra caution” when extracting organs after a baby who was declared brain-dead began breathing again.
The safety alert sent to staff at NHS Blood and Transport, seen by Sky News, advised them to pay “particular attention to pre-conditions and red flags” in children after the boy began breathing independently.
The child’s father has told Sky News that “extra caution” is not good enough.
“They did four brain stem tests on him and certified his death. When I asked whether there was an alternative test they said no. If there’s just one test to prove someone is alive or dead it should be 100 per cent accurate.
“They said it’s a miracle. It’s not a miracle, this is faulty medical science.”
Doctors treating the child at a London hospital conducted two sets of brain stem tests before seeking a second opinion to confirm their diagnosis.
Two weeks later, a nurse at the hospital noticed the boy, then four months, was breathing.
The Academy of Royal Medical Colleges (ARMC), which sets the test, said in August it would rewrite the code of practice on brain stem testing after the child’s case came to light.
This week it told Sky News it has sped up the process with a report due to be ready in months.
It has not offered parents or hospitals advice on what to do in the meantime.
David Jones, a professor of bioethics at St Mary’s University, warned there was a risk of organs being extracted from living children if clinicians got diagnoses wrong.
“The doctors could’ve said ‘This child is dead’ and they could’ve taken his organs,” Professor Jones said.
“But they didn’t because of an ongoing legal issue, and because they didn’t, they later found out that he wasn’t dead.”
More and more clinicians are now expressing concern about brain stem testing, according to Professor Jones.
“If the test is a matter of life and death, and if death means you can take organs, you want certainty. I think some of that certainty has been taken away by this case,” he told Sky News.
“Rather than people who were sceptics being a minority, I think there are a lot more people who have become sceptical of the test, at least in relation to children.”
The baby began breathing two weeks after he was declared brain-dead
The interim safety alert sent to NHSBT staff calls for “extra caution in any infant when diagnosing death using neurological criteria – paying particular attention to pre-conditions and red flags”.
An NHSBT spokesperson said: “There are strict criteria in place in the UK to provide safe, timely and consistent criteria for the diagnosis of death, provided by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
“As medicine advances, new treatments and clinical practice means that protocols must be updated accordingly, and any new learnings shared. Clinicians pay particularly close attention to any rare or unusual cases, to ensure that the highest standards for patient and donor care and safety continue to be upheld.”
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NHSBT refused to comment on whether a moratorium should be in place until the ARMC’s expert group review is published.
Professor Jones said: “I think that if there isn’t a moratorium then at the very least all parents ought to be informed that this has happened and that this is a risk.
“But in the meantime I think that it shouldn’t be used on young children.”
Parental consent in such cases is not straightforward.
In June, the High Court ruled against the parents of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee after Barts Health NHS Trust took them to court to brain stem test him on the recommendation of doctors who said he was brain-dead.
After a legal battle lasting weeks, Archie’s life support machine was switched off and he died on 6 August.
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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