Yusuf Nazir: New report examines death of boy who was sent home from hospital due to a ‘lack of beds’
The mother of a five-year-old boy who died after being sent home from hospital because of a “lack of beds” has told Sky News that the second report into his death “has not brought closure for the family”.
Yusuf Nazir died in November 2022. His mother Soniya had rushed her son to Rotherham Hospital’s A&E, only to be told “there were no beds available”.
Yusuf was eventually seen by a doctor but then sent home. Soniya says the doctor told her that “Yusuf had the worst case of tonsillitis he had ever seen”.
But the child’s health continued to deteriorate, and his desperately worried mother called an ambulance to rush him to the nearby specialist children’s hospital in Sheffield.
Yusuf Nazir died in November 2022
It was here, the report says, that a number of critical interventions were missed. Yusuf’s family say that, if doctors had acted sooner, he would still be alive.
Speaking in her first interview since Yusuf’s death, Soniya described the panic she felt as a mother watching her son “dying in front of her eyes”.
“I carried Yusuf to the nurse, floppy with his eyes rolled back, struggling to breathe, myself to the nurse,” Soniya said.
“She said: ‘We’re too busy, we can’t get a doctor, you’ll have to wait.'”
Soniya Nazir told Sky ‘we want change’
Other patients in the waiting room intervened when they saw Yusuf gasping for air and struggling to breathe, but they were told Yusuf’s mother should approach the nurses herself if she was concerned.
This second independent report was backed by Wes Streeting when he was shadow health secretary.
A previous internal NHS report found no wrongdoing on the part of Rotherham Hospital. The family have described that report as a “whitewash”.
Their claim will be supported by this second report, which says: “It’s clear that across all settings – primary care, pre-hospital, emergency and inpatient – the healthcare system failed to truly hear the family’s voice.”
It also says staff should have listened to the “mother’s instinct”.
“I knew he was very, very poorly, he was struggling to breath, he was lethargic, he was floppy,” Soniya told Sky News.
“I knew that something’s not right before they even escalated it to the ICU. I knew he was very poorly but no one else picked it up.”
The health secretary told Sky News: “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.
“This independent report reveals their concerns were repeatedly not addressed across NHS services.
“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, but I know that really is of no consolation for a loving family living with the unimaginable pain of losing a lovely little boy in these awful circumstances.”
Part of the report’s key findings shows Yusuf had 23 separate healthcare contacts across four NHS organisations that were responsible for his care, but there was no coordinated record or oversight.
It found the clinical assessments that were made were inconsistent and led to difficulties in comparing his condition over time. Routine care prior to his crisis was marked by a wait-and-see approach that failed to pre-empt worsening conditions.
It also recorded clinical staff at Sheffield used an outdated cannula method that failed to give Yusuf potentially life-saving drugs.
Soniya says she pointed out the leaking cannula to Yusuf’s nurses, but her concerns were brushed aside.
“The cannula burst and the whole bed was full of his medication and blood on the morning he went to the ICU, the whole weekend he’d not had that medication,” she said.
“He’d have been in pain and he wouldn’t have been getting any better if he wasn’t having the medication. And I think that’s the reason Yusuf’s not here anymore.
“From the moment he was in Sheffield Children’s Hospital until the end I think he didn’t get any treatment, it was just like him being at home.”
Soniya says she welcomes the report’s findings that show Yusuf did not get the care he needed – but the investigation does not find a cause of death or apportion blame.
The investigation has made national recommendations, including consultant-led oversight on weekends and giving parents visibility of their child’s medical records.
Sky News has closely followed the family’s fight for answers since first reporting on Yusuf’s case, two days after he died.
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From 2022: Family ‘want answers’ over 5-year-old’s death
Dr Jeff Perring, executive medical director at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We recognise the profound loss felt by Yusuf’s family and those who loved him.
“We will be reviewing the recommendations of the report and taking those forward through education, guidance, policy and training to deliver the best care for our children, young people and families.”
“We want change,” Soniya says. “We want this not to happen to any other child. Because if they don’t change, there’s going to be another child and another mother sat here telling you the same story.”
Dr Jo Beahan, medical director at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our deepest sympathies remain with Yusuf’s family following such a sad loss of a loved family member.
“Since November 2022, we have taken steps to address the concern relating to Yusuf’s care which includes listening to the concerns of parents and carers. Our thoughts continue to be with Yusuf’s family.”
Professor Aidan Fowler, national director of patient safety in England, said: “Our sympathies remain with Yusuf’s family, and we acknowledge the heavy toll this investigation has placed on them – while grieving an unimaginable loss.
“Following publication of the final report today, we will respond on the findings and how we will be taking forward the recommendations in the report to ensure there are continuing improvements in patient safety and care for children across NHS hospitals and services in the future.”
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The Nazir family’s fight is not over. This report cannot confirm Yusuf’s cause of death, or say if his life could have been saved with better care.
It is why Soniya is demanding a coroner’s inquest into her son’s death: so that she and her family can finally have closure.
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‘No evidence’ malign activity caused Wednesday’s air traffic disruption, says transport secretary
There is no evidence that malign activity was responsible for yesterday’s outage of air traffic control systems, the transport secretary has said.
Heidi Alexander said she has spoken with the chief executive of National Air Traffic Service (NATS), Martin Rolfe, and added that what happened was an isolated incident.
NATS has apologised for the IT problems after thousands of passengers suffered extensive travel disruption during one of the busiest times of the year.
The technical glitch led to more than 150 flight cancellations, leaving airlines reacting furiously.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander
Ms Alexander wrote on X: “I have spoken with NATS CEO Martin Rolfe who provided further detail on yesterday’s technical fault.
“This was an isolated event and there is no evidence of malign activity.
“I know that any disruption is frustrating for passengers.
“Flights are now resumed and I am grateful to airlines who are working hard to get people to where they need to be.
“I will continue to receive regular updates. Passengers should check with airlines before travelling.”
Read more: Flight delayed or cancelled? These are your rights
Officials said a “radar-related issue” caused the air traffic control failure.
A spokesperson for NATS said: “This was a radar-related issue which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety.
“There is no evidence that this was cyber related.”
The problem occurred at NATS’ control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, and affected the vast majority of England and Wales.
Aviation analytics company Cirium said 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled to or from UK airports up to 10pm on Wednesday, with several flights diverted to other European airports.
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Travel expert Paul Charles: This is a major outage
There was limited disruption on Thursday, with a handful of British Airways flights cancelled because aircraft and crew were out of position.
Heathrow and Gatwick airports said they had resumed normal operations.
Affected passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation as the disruption was outside of airlines’ control, but they will be able to claim expenses for a reasonable amount of food and drink, a means to communicate and overnight accommodation if required.
Martin Rolfe in 2023. Pic: PA
Ryanair has called on Mr Rolfe to resign, claiming “no lessons have been learnt” since a similar systems outage in August 2023.
The airline’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon said: “It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.”
Airlines have reacted furiously after a technical glitch in air traffic control systems led to more than 150 flight cancellations.
The National Air Traffic Service (NATS) has apologised for the IT problems – and said systems were back up and running 20 minutes after the “radar-related issue” was detected at 4.05pm.
But with thousands of passengers suffering extensive travel disruption, during one of the busiest times of the year, airline executives have warned this isn’t good enough.
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Departures resume after ATC problem
Ryanair’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon has called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign – and claimed Wednesday’s incident was “utterly unacceptable”.
He said: “It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of NATS.
“It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the August 2023 NATS system outage, and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe’s incompetence.”
Mr McMahon was referring to a glitch that affected more than 700,000 passengers two years ago – and said that, if Mr Rolfe refuses to step down, the government should intervene.
“Heidi Alexander must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform of NATS’ shambolic ATC service, so that airlines and passengers are no longer forced to endure these preventable delays caused by persistent NATS failures,” he added.
The Department for Transport says Ms Alexander does not have any direct control over NATS – and no powers over staffing decisions at the service.
Martin Rolfe in 2023. Pic: PA
EasyJet’s chief operating officer David Morgan added: “It’s extremely disappointing to see an ATC failure once again causing disruption to our customers at this busy and important time of year for travel.
“While our priority today is supporting our customers, we will want to understand from NATS what steps they are taking to ensure issues don’t continue.”
NATS is yet to comment on the calls for Mr Rolfe’s resignation – but has stressed that the glitch is not believed to be “cyber related”.
“This was a radar-related issue which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety,” a spokesperson had said.
Departures at airports across the country have now resumed – but passengers are being urged to check with their airline before heading to terminals.
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Travel expert: This is a major outage
John Carr, from Stourbridge, was on his way from Heathrow to Norway to help arrange his brother’s wedding when he discovered his flight was cancelled after checking in.
“I’m pretty gutted,” he said. “We’ve got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we’re obviously flying to Norway. We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for an urgent investigation and also referred to the “utterly unacceptable” disruption two years earlier.
“With thousands of families preparing to go on a well-earned break, this just isn’t good enough. The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Flights departing or arriving at a UK airport, or aircraft operated by a UK airline arriving in the EU, are subject to rules concerning delays or cancellations.
Airlines may have to provide compensation, although there are exemptions for “extraordinary circumstances”, according to the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.
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