'Hidden notes show real reason our daughter died in crisis hospital'

The grieving parents of a four-year-old girl today revealed how they discovered a shortage of doctors at a London hospital contributed to her death after asking for her medical records.

Wajid and Shahenaz Shah were initially told their daughter Nailah died in July 2014 at Whipps Cross hospital as a result of fluid on the lungs that was unavoidable because of her rare genetic disease.

In an attempt to uncover the whole truth, they asked the hospital’s parent trust, Barts Health, for her medical notes. In 2016 they learned of another report that said Nailah was likely to have died as a result of over-hydration and kidney failure because no one had been monitoring her fluid levels. At this point the Shahs instructed lawyers.

Nailah had a severe form of Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia, which limits growth, the immune system and kidney function and typically results in death in childhood. Two of Nailah’s brothers, Muhammad, three, and Armaan, two, have the same condition, but her older brother Hanif does not.

The second report, written by another NHS trust and never previously disclosed, revealed there was only one paediatric registrar on duty on the night Nailah began to deteriorate.

The registrar had to cover child attendances at A&E, the labour ward and the special care baby unit, which were all in different parts of the sprawling hospital. The doctor’s case load included two other children who were regarded as being sicker than Nailah.

Shahenaz Shah, Nailah’s mother

The report said a locum doctor could not be found to share the workload, despite extra government funding being available, due to the nationwide shortage of trained medics. It concluded: “The lack of medical staff led to the failure to effectively manage her slow deterioration during the night.”

Last October, Barts Health admitted that negligence in failing to monitor Nailah accelerated her death. A settlement and undisclosed amount of compensation was agreed at the High Court in January, and an apology was received in March.

Today Mr and Mrs Shah, aged 36 and 32, from Leyton, said they had faced a “constant battle for answers” in their attempt to learn about their daughter’s death. They were initially told the trust was unable to locate medical records relating to Nailah’s admission to hospital, and there were no minutes of a “rapid response” meeting of doctors after her death.

Mrs Shah said: “Nailah was a wonderful and affectionate girl who, despite her condition, was always happy and smiling. While she had a shortened life-expectancy she still deserved the basic human right of receiving the best-possible care. We feel totally let down.”

Alexandra Winch, of Irwin Mitchell solicitors, who represented the family, said: “There has been a particular lack of openness by Barts Health NHS Trust in relation to the circumstances surrounding Nailah’s death which is in breach of their duty of candour.

“The trust has now admitted liability and have apologised to the family, but it is unfortunate that they were forced to commence legal action in order to simply get the answers that they were looking for.”

In 2015, Whipps Cross, in Leytonstone, was judged by NHS inspectors to be unsafe after 208 serious incidents in 2014. This resulted in Barts Health being put in special measures. Last year, Whipps Cross’s “inadequate” rating was raised to “requires improvement”.

A trust spokesman said: “We are very sorry for the failings in care and have expressed our condolences to Nailah’s family. We’ve transformed our services since, with over 170 more staff in post and strengthened processes for monitoring hydration. We train all staff to ensure absolute openness and honesty when things haven’t gone right.”