Sheffield Children's Hospital 'failed' heart attack girl
- Published
Simra Ali died after suffering a heart attack when earlier hospital visits failed to deal with her medical problem
A 10-year-old girl died from heart failure after being discharged in pain from a children's hospital three times in 48 hours, a coroner has concluded.
Simra Ali of Tinsley, Sheffield, was taken to Sheffield Children's Hospital complaining of abdominal pain, vomiting and tiredness.
Coroner Christopher Dorries said there was a significant failure to identify a seriously ill patient.
The hospital said opportunities were missed to treat Simra's illness.
Lawyers Irwin Mitchell, acting for Simra's family, said Sheffield coroner Mr Dorries had pointed to missed opportunities
Three days after her original visit in March 2017 Simra suffered a heart attack at the hospital and died within 30 minutes.
The law firm said an NHS report into Simra's death found her "significantly elevated heart rate" was attributed to a faulty pulse monitoring machine - or Simra's agitated state - and staff missed opportunities to investigate what was really causing it.
The inquest concluded there were serious omissions and missed opportunities for Simra to be reviewed by a senior doctor and for further investigations to be performed which the coroner stated amounted to "a significant failure".
Mr Dorries concluded that had Simra's condition been properly recognised, appropriate interventions would have saved her life.
Simra Ali had been taken to Sheffield Children's Hospital three times in 48 hours
Simra's mother Nighat Farzana said: "I will never forget that pain and suffering Simra had to endure in the week leading up to her tragic death.
"I felt that my concerns about Simra's health concerns were not taken seriously during her hospital visits.
"We put our trust in the opinion of the medical professionals at Sheffield Children's Hospital."
Sally Shearer, director of nursing and quality at the hospital said: "We accept the inquest findings and acknowledge that opportunities to diagnose Simra earlier were missed.
"We have taken on board the lessons as part of our own internal review and we will be contacting Simra's family directly to apologise."