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

Pic: Nailah’s mother said she was always smiling ( ES Local Feed )
Health reporter(wp/es):

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.

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.”
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Fears of centrist purge as new party rules make it easier to sack MPs

Political reporter(wp/es):

Labour MPs warned of a “purge” of centrists today after the party voted through new rules making it easier to sack Members of Parliament deemed to be out of touch.

In an overwhelming result on a card vote of members and union chiefs,  the historic chance was backed by 65.32 per cent to 34.68 per cent. 

The new rules stopped well short of calls made by Momentum for automatic mandatory reselection for all MPs, and the left-wing group denounced them as “meagre”. But critics said they could still would cause turmoil by putting the power to trigger a reselection battle into the hands of relatively small numbers of people.

Ilford South MP Mike Gapes said some MPs would be forced to waste long periods of time trying to defend themselves against deselection moves that could be triggered by small numbers of malcontents.

He told the Standard: “It is obviously a defeat for the Momentum ultras, which is good news. But it makes it possible for small groups within trade union branches to trigger reselections.”

He said it was a “diversion” from Labour’s efforts to win new seats because energy would be taken up by local arguments.

Neil Coyle, the MP for Bermondsey & Old Southwark, said there would be more deselections of independent-minded MPs like Frank Field, who quit the parliamentary party after being targeted.

He stormed: “I have a constituency mired in cuts, and the debate is being wasted on internal factionalism and the desire to have more clones and drones rather than independent-minded Labour MPs. 

“I find it genuinely quite frustrating. There will be more Frank Fields.”

Under old rules a clear majority of local members of affiliated unions must back an open selection contest before it takes place. Now the threshhold is being slashed to a third - meaning a handful of people in a small branch or union branch could force it.

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May will change her mind on Brexit, says Rees-Mogg

Political reporter(wp/reuters):

British Prime Minister Theresa May will eventually decide to abandon her strategy for maintaining close trade ties with the European Union because it lacks support, a leading eurosceptic lawmaker in her Conservative Party said on Monday.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of anti-EU lawmakers in May’s ruling Conservative party, said the so-called Chequers plan is opposed by European politicians and large parts of the British public.

“The prime minister is a lady of singular wisdom and therefore is likely to recognise the reality that Chequers does not have much support either in this country or abroad,” Rees-Mogg said.

Last week, EU leaders rejected May’s proposal to seek a free trade area for goods with the EU and some rebels in May’s party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one.

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EU gives Britain two months to pay 2.7 bn euros over China fraud

Law reporter(wp/afp):

The EU on Monday gave Britain two months to recover 2.7 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in lost customs duties or risk referral to the EU's top court after London allegedly ignored a scam by Chinese importers.

The demand, part of a so-called infringement action launched by Brussels, threatens to further inflame tensions amid fraught Brexit negotiations just days after an EU summit in Austria ended in acrimony.

"The United Kingdom now has two months to act; otherwise the Commission may refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU," said a statement by the commission, the European Union's executive arm.

The case follows an investigation last year by the EU fraud watchdog that found Britain turned a blind eye to the rampant use of fake invoices and customs claims by Chinese importers for textiles and footwear.

The commission believes that "despite having been informed of the risks of fraud", Britain "failed to take effective action to prevent the fraud" -- a failure which in turn short-changed the EU budget.

The affair is especially ill-timed as Britain's proposal for future trade ties with Europe after Brexit centres on an offer that London handle customs checks on behalf of the EU after the split.

Britain's Brexit proposal was flatly dismissed as "unworkable" by EU Council President Donald Tusk, to the frustration of British Prime Minister Theresa May.
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