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My joyful sister died in hospital blunder
Alex Stephens, Evening Standard3 Mar 2008
The brother of a teenage girl who died after hospital staff failed to follow basic procedures spoke today about the family's grief and anger.
Lassania Aslam, 17, was admitted to the Whittington Hospital in Upper Holloway last March suffering from a high temperature and vomiting.
She died three days later of severe brain trauma after choking on vomit. An inquest last month heard how doctors and nurses had failed to perform a neurological examination or properly log fits Lassania suffered.
The hospital has apologised unreservedly and changed procedures.
Lassania's brother, Khayam, 27, said the death of his "joyful" sister had plunged the family home in Hornsey into silence and despair. "She always made everybody laugh - she was the life of the house," he said.
Lassania, an epileptic who had learningdifficulties, had just finished a yearlong cookery course. She fell ill two weeks after starting new medication and her brothers took her to the hospital. Mr Aslam said: "They put her on a drip and she was talking. Then on the following evening she began fitting and vomiting.
"When I left her she was semiconscious. I came back the next morning and was told she had had a fit and they assumed she had taken in some vomit. A team from critical care had put a tube down her throat to help her breathe. From then on she never recovered. When she inhaled the vomit she had been starved of oxygen and suffered brain damage.
"On 1 April, doctors carried out a brain stem test. There was no movement and they pronounced her dead." The inquest was told that Lassania's care had been unacceptable. Coroner Dr Andrew Reid recorded a verdict of natural causes "in part because basic standard practices for neurological observations were not followed".
A hospital spokeswoman said: "The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust accepts there were deficiencies in the provision of care to Lassania Aslam. The trust wishes to apologise unreservedly to the family and friends of Miss Aslam.
"As a result of this case, the Whittington has implemented improvements in nursing practice and communication, to minimise the risk of a similar incident occurring again."
Reader views (1)
Hardly a week goes by without another story about the dreadful standard of care at the Whittington and especially at its A&E department. There needs to be wholesale management changes at the hospital and that needs to start at the top.
- Ed, London, England, 04/03/2008 11:07
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