Parents accuse hospital staff of ‘laughing’ while five-year-old boy’s life support was turned off

The grieving parents of a five-year-old boy claim they heard hospital staff laughing as their son’s life support machine was turned off.

Haroon Rashid’s son Muhammad Ayaan had a history of respiratory illnesses and a rare genetic condition called Hace 1 which caused developmental delays. He was admitted to the hospital on 5 March with trouble breathing, and passed away just over a week later on 13 March.

Mr Rashid claims he was forced to say goodbye as medical staff in the same room were laughing in the background, with only a thin curtain between them.

The 41 year-old has submitted a formal complaint, which also includes allegations about standards of care during his son’s time in hospital and a claim that he was phoned about a follow-up appointment for Ayaan ten days after he died.

Bosses at Sheffield Children’s Hospital have pledged a “thorough” investigation into the family’s claims.

Mr Rashid, a taxi driver and father-of-four from Sheffield, said: “We don’t know how we will live without him now our son is gone.

“We worry about what happened to him. We don’t want this to happen to any other child or any other family.

“When the machine was switched off at 2.30am we had a lot of family members there. There was laughter coming from staff members. We were so upset.”

“There was no one else on the ward apart from staff and one other small child behind the curtain from us,” he continued.

“Surely the staff knew Ayaan’s machine was about to be turned off. They continued laughing after my relative asked them to stop.

“A child’s life was coming to an end. It was highly insensitive. We are living with our son’s loss but we are very, very angry about the staff behaved.”

Mr Rashid also described a similar allegation when his wife Fakhra Dibi was given the news that Ayaan’s condition was deteriorating a few days before his death.

She claims she was given the news Ayaan’s chances of survival were slim due to an adenovirus infection in a ward full of laughing staff, children and other parents.

Mr Rashid, whose daughters are 20, 16 and 12, said: “My wife rang me crying after the doctor broke the news.

“They told her out there in the ward, with nurses who were laughing in the background. They should have taken her to a private room, not told her like that in front of everyone. It’s hugely insensitive.”

Ayaan’s initial cause of death has been listed as an adenovirus which can cause flu-like symptoms and pneumonia.

A decision as to whether an inquest into his death will be held has not yet been made by a coroner.

Mr Rashid claims that staff had a “dismissive” attitude to some of the concerns he raised about his son during his care.

He said: “Every day in the treatment of my son something went wrong. They didn’t listen to my years of experience in caring for my children.

“I’m not a doctor but I know my son’s history. From past experience I knew what treatment my son needed from the outset but no one listened to me.

But Mr Rashid was keen to praise previous treatment that his family had received from Sheffield Children’s Hospital. He said his son’s treatment as an outpatient at the hospital previously had been faultless, and that his consultants had been there for them throughout.

Ayaan was described by his father as “the best in the whole of Sheffield”. His father said the whole of the school’s staff came to his son’s funeral at the Madina Mosque in Sheffield.

He described Ayaan as a child who always had a smile on his face, who loved to be picked up and enjoyed children’s shows like Cocomelon and Hey Duggee.

Dr Jeff Perring, medical director at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I wish to express my deepest condolences to Ayaan’s family for their loss.

“The death of any child is tragic and I know that my colleagues who treated, and came to know, Ayaan during his short life will share in expressing these condolences.

“The loss of a child while they are a patient at Sheffield Children’s is something we take very seriously.

“Our colleagues pride themselves on providing the best clinical and pastoral care for all children and young people who need it.

“We have received Mr Rashid’s complaint, which is very detailed and complex.

“There will be a thorough internal investigation of the care and treatment Ayaan received at the hospital between 5 and 13 March which will cover the concerns raised in Mr Rashid’s complaint.”

SWNS