Life-support row parents bid to name Newcastle doctors

Rashid Abbasi said he was labelled as argumentative after disagreements over his daughter's care

Parents who disputed the removal of their child's life-support are challenging an order preventing her doctors being named.

Rashid and Aliya Abbasi said they received "appalling treatment" from some medics at Newcastle's Great North Children's Hospital.

Newcastle Hospitals Trust said staff should be free to work "without pressure from disputed commentary".

High Court judge Sir Andrew McFarlane is considering the application.

He is also considering issues relating to the naming of medics involved in the care of another child, Isaiah Haastrup.

The 12-month-old boy died after a High Court judge gave doctors at King's College Hospital in London permission to provide only palliative care, against the wishes of his parents.

'No findings of fault'

A barrister representing the two NHS trusts said reporting restrictions protected clinicians from "negative attention from the public and media".

Gavin Millar QC told Sir Andrew that complaints made by Zainab's parents, who are both doctors, were "disputed and as yet unsubstantiated".

Their six-year-old daughter had complex needs due to a rare degenerative condition and died in September 2019.

There had been disagreements between her parents and the hospital about her care.

After being told Zainab's life support should be switched off, Dr Abbasi refused to leave and staff called police to remove him from his daughter's bedside.

He was arrested but not charged and no action was taken against him.

A Newcastle Hospital Trust spokesperson said: "When there is disagreement, we work within the statutory and legal processes available to families to resolve their concerns.

"In this case, there have been no findings of fault against any members of our staff and it's important that we support clinicians to go about their work without pressure from disputed commentary."