New investigation into boy's death confirmed

Yusuf Nazir died eight days after he was sent home from hospital with antibiotics

A fresh investigation into the case of a five-year-old boy who died a week after he was sent home from a hospital emergency department has been given the green light.

Yusuf Mahmud Nazir died on 23 November 2022, eight days after he was seen at Rotherham Hospital and sent home with antibiotics.

A report into Yusuf's case, by independent consultants and published last year by NHS South Yorkshire, found that his care was appropriate, but this was rejected by his family.

Yusuf's uncle, Zaheer Ahmed, said the new review would be led by the former general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing Peter Carter.

The family has always said they were told "there are no beds and not enough doctors" in the emergency department, and that Yusuf should have been admitted and given intravenous antibiotics in Rotherham.

Mr Ahmed said news of the review, approved on Wednesday, came almost two years to the day since his nephews' death.

"Since his death, for two years we've been non-stop fighting," Mr Ahmed said.

"All we want is the truth.

"When you know something's happened and you read something different, that's more upsetting for us because we know exactly what happened."

Yusuf's family hope the investigation will be completed by March next year.

Zaheer Ahmed, Yusuf's uncle, said his family want the "truth" to be told

An initial report published in October last year set out how Yusuf, who had asthma, was taken to the GP with a sore throat and feeling unwell on 15 November 2022.

He was prescribed antibiotics by an advanced nurse practitioner.

Later that evening his family 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 he was given further antibiotics by his GP for a possible chest infection and on 21 November he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

He then developed multi-organ failure and suffered several cardiac arrests, which he did not survive.

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust said: "Our thoughts and condolences remain with Yusuf's family.

"We fully cooperated with the original independent inquiry, and we will continue to cooperate fully with any further investigations."

Confirming the review, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This is a review that the Secretary of State welcomes and has long called for, and he will be meeting with Yusuf's family."

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