The family of a five-year-old boy who died after he was sent home from A&E say they are “getting closer and closer to the truth” after an inquest into his death was opened.
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir died at Sheffield Children’s Hospital on November 23 2022, eight days after he was seen at Rotherham Hospital and sent home with antibiotics.
Last month, after a second report into Yusuf’s care was published by NHS England, his family called for an inquest into his death, saying there were still many unanswered questions.
On Thursday, an inquest was opened and adjourned by Sheffield’s Senior Coroner Tanyka Rawden.
Speaking after the five minute-long hearing, Yusuf’s uncle Zaheer Ahmed said: “It’s been a very long journey for us and we really appreciate the fact that the coroner has listened to us on our first approach and given us the inquest we want.
“And it will give us more answers about how Yusuf died, which is what we’re wanting.
“It’s been a tough fight to get here, but we’re getting closer and closer to the truth.”
The coroner adjourned the inquest to a case management hearing on January 30 2026 but said the full hearing will be later than this.
Mr Ahmed said: “We don’t mind how long it takes as long as everything gets looked at properly and thoroughly and we get the answers that we need.
“We don’t want it to be rushed. We don’t want any opportunities to be missed.”
He said: “It was actually Yusuf’s birthday yesterday. He would have been eight years old today.”
Mr Ahmed has always said they were told “there are no beds and not enough doctors” in the emergency department, and that Yusuf should have been admitted and given intravenous antibiotics in Rotherham.
Yusuf, who had asthma, was taken to a GP with a sore throat and feeling unwell on November 15. He was prescribed antibiotics by an advanced nurse practitioner.
Later that evening, his parents took him to Rotherham Hospital urgent and emergency care centre (UECC) where he was seen in the early hours of the morning after a six-hour wait.
He was discharged with a diagnosis of severe tonsillitis and an extended prescription of antibiotics.
Two days later Yusuf was given further antibiotics by his GP for a possible chest infection, but his family became so concerned they called an ambulance and insisted the paramedics take him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital rather than Rotherham.
Yusuf was admitted to the intensive care unit on November 21 but developed multi-organ failure and suffered several cardiac arrests which he did not survive.
The new report published in July included a range of recommendations for the NHS.
It concluded: “Our primary finding is that the parental concerns, particularly the mother’s instinct that her child was unwell, were repeatedly not addressed across services.”
Speaking at a press conference in Rotherham in July, Yusuf’s mother, Soniya Ahmed, said: “For the medical staff there are lessons to be learnt from this tragedy, but for us, our life, Yusuf has been taken away from us in the most horrific way.
“Every night when I close my eyes I hear Yusuf’s helpless voice in my ears saying, ‘Mummy, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I really can’t’.”
Ms Ahmed choked back tears as she said: “We want to know how our son has died and who is responsible, and the only way we will get these answers is with an inquest. The family demand an inquest.”
The new report by Peter Carter, former general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said Yusuf had 23 separate healthcare contacts across four organisations “with no single, co-ordinated record or oversight, contributing to fragmented and disjointed care”.
The family said they were most surprised by the report’s findings in relation to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, including that it used an outdated cannula method which deprived Yusuf of drugs he needed.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said last month: “There are no excuses for the tragic failings in the lead-up to Yusuf’s death and I know first-hand how hard it has been for his family to live without the answers they deserve.”
