Fatal mix up doctor 'can work again'

Najiyah Hussain died of oxygen starvation

A consultant responsible for a hospital mix up in which a three-year-old girl died should be allowed to continue working, an official report has concluded.

After an investigation, it has been concluded that A&E consultant, Mr Andrew Hobart simply made a mistake.

Mr Hobart is the former chair of the BMA's junior doctors' committee.

Najiyah Hussain, of Manor Park, east London, died after being given laughing gas instead of oxygen.

She was taken to the accident and emergency department at Newham General Hospital in east London after suffering a fit at her home in January.

Mr Hobart had demonstrated genuine remorse for his error and made it clear that he is prepared to learn from his mistake

Newham Healthcare NHS Trust

She had gone into convulsions after receiving a flu jab at her GP practice.

Najiyah was given a mask to help her breathe, but instead of being given oxygen to revive her, she was mistakenly fed the anaesthetic nitrous oxide.

The report says: "This happened when the consultant inadvertently opened the nitrous oxide valve rather than the oxygen valve."

The result was only spotted after eight to ten minutes. As a result Najiyah's brain was starved of oxygen, and she died in intensive care.

Suspended

Mr Hobart was suspended following the tragedy, and Newham Healthcare NHS Trust launched an internal inquiry.

Mr Andrew Hobart: suspended after incident

Detectives from Scotland Yard also quizzed members of staff at the hospital.

The trust panel who interviewed Mr Hobart concluded: "He is appropriately trained, competent and safe to practice within the speciality.

"The panel considered that Mr Hobart had demonstrated genuine remorse for his error and made it clear that he is prepared to learn from his mistake."

They concluded that Mr Hobart, who was suspended following the incident, should undergo a period of supervised experience in the critical care aspects of accident and emergency medicine, intensive care and anaesthesia.

The purpose would be to "re-focus" Mr Hobart's experience and to rebuild his confidence in treating critically ill patients before returning to work.

The official report makes 20 recommendations aimed at preventing a repeat of the mix up.

They include:

• all nitrous oxide be removed from the resuscitation room
• an alarm system be fitted to warn if patients are not receiving enough oxygen

Dr Charles Gutteridge, medical director of the trust, confirmed that Mr Hobart would be returning to work.

He said: "Our view is that he is fully trained, he has a lot of experience. He knew precisely what he needed to do, he just did not get it right at that particular time."

Mr Hobart's mistake was to turn the wrong knob on a piece of equipment called a Boyles machine.

Instead of turning a large white knob to release oxygen, he turned a blue knob, which was half its size, that released a dose of nitrous oxide.

The hospital admitted that the equipment used was 17 years old, but stressed that it was regularly checked and met Department of Health guidelines.

In a statement, Dr Hobart said: "I would like to express my deepest sympathies to the family of Najiyah Hussain and to say how very sorry I am about the death of their daughter."

Najiyah's family lawyer John Bruty said the family had not really had time to digest the report having only received it a short while ago.

However, he said it looked at first glance as though the trust had reviewed the matter very thoroughly and had produced a full and open report.

He said: "The family will now want to receive firm assurances from the Trust that the recommendations of the internal inquiry are put in place as soon as possible."