Mother did not know the Enfield hospital no longer provided Accident and Emergency services
FRESH CALLS were made to provide Accident and Emergency services at Chase Farm after a mother rushed her yo
ung son there without knowing it had closed.
Two-year-old Muhammad Hashir Naveed died after his mother brought him there around 3am last Wednesday, believing she could access emergency services there.
But the A&E unit was closed in December despite years of campaigns opposing the plans.
Muhammad’s mother was able to contact a nurse, who called an ambulance which arrived eight minutes later.
Paramedics attempted to resuscitate the boy, who was described as being “in cardiac arrest”, on the way to North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton. The ambulance arrived at 3.37am, 25 minutes after it has been called.
Efforts to revive Muhammad were stopped at 4am.
“NOT GOOD ENOUGH”
Alev Cazimoglu, chairwoman of Enfield Council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny panel, added: “We have always maintained that we wanted a 24-hour, fully functioning A&E at Chase Farm.
“What we have is simply not good enough.”
CALL TO JEREMY HUNT
Kieran McGregor, of the Save Chase Farm campaign, said: “We are absolutely devastated to hear the news. It should never have taken the death of a young child to illustrate the point that campaigners have been making for a decade.
“Fully functional A&E services must be re-instated at Chase Farm immediately before another death occurs. Nothing else can prevent this from happening again.
“It is not realistic to expect parents to have to decide what care is needed for their child. Every second counts in these instances.
“Nurses do a fantastic job but a child which is desperately ill needs to be seen by a paediatric consultant, which a fully functioning A&E has.
“An urgent review of the closure must be carried out. It would be an opportunity for the secretary of state for health Jeremy Hunt to come to Enfield to assess the evidence and meet with stakeholders directly.”
INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY
A spokeswoman said: “We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family on the loss of their son.
“The new urgent care centre at Chase Farm Hospital is open from 9am to 9pm, seven days a week. There is an emergency phone at the entrance for patients who arrive outside these hours.
“An ambulance was called immediately by trust staff and the child was attended to on site where resuscitation was initiated.
“The child was placed in the care of the LAS who continued to resuscitate him during the transfer to North Middlesex University Hospital.
“A full investigation is under way to ensure the appropriate actions were taken.”
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chasefarm.jpg Chase Farm, where the A&E unit is now closed
