Family call report into boy's death 'whitewash'

The family of a boy with a rare genetic condition who died in hospital after being admitted with breathing problems have described a report into his death as a "whitewash" and called for a further independent investigation.

Five-year-old Muhammad Ayaan Haroon, known as Ayaan, died at Sheffield Children's Hospital in March 2023.

A final report into his death by healthcare consultancy firm Niche Health and Social Care Consulting said 1,400 pages of comments in relation to a previous draft report had been reviewed and responded to.

But Ayaan's father, Haroon Rashid, said a meeting at the hospital where they received the report was a case of "throwing it" at them and "saying off you go".

"I see very little has changed from the draft report that was handed to us in January 2025," he added.

In March 2023, Ayaan - who had a condition called Hace 1 - became unwell at home and was admitted with a lower respiratory tract infection. He died from what was known as overwhelming disseminated adenovirus bronchopneumonia.

The report, which was commissioned by Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, found that aspects of Ayaan's care did not meet expected standards.

It said some actions might have "marginally increased his chance of survival".

But it added: "This review has been conducted with the benefit of hindsight and in our view, on the balance of probabilities, these marginal changes were unlikely to have changed the outcome."

In January 2025 the family were given a draft report into his death.

It considered 736 complaint points submitted by Ayaan's family into the care he received at the hospital. Investigators upheld 307 and partly upheld 171.

Investigators said their final report was shaped by feedback from the family on the draft report.

The review team said it had made changes to reflect the family's views more clearly and had added additional concerns raised by clinicians from the immunology team involved in Ayaan's care.

"We have also reflected additional points raised by the immunology team at SCFT who felt that aspects of the conclusions were incorrect," they added.

However, Haroon Rashid said the final report remained "whitewashed and sanitised" and questioned whether any of its 22 recommendations would be implemented.

"We don't feel even a single one will be," he said.

"Because the way the executives of the trust have behaved, it feels to us that the document would just be buried under a pile of papers, and it will be forgotten about.

Dr Jeff Perring, executive medical director at Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, said:

"Sheffield Children's is fully committed to learning from all complaint investigations into the care and experience of children, young people and their families.

"We recognise the profound impact that the loss of a child has on their family, friends and those who cared for them.

"We appreciate how difficult independent reports, such as this, are for the families affected.

"We understand the importance of working together to ensure that the lessons learned are implemented in our everyday care for children and young people."

The family said they now want a second investigation and want to be involved in the choice of the investigator.

Haroon Rashid said: "We will fully read the report, understand it fully, because there's hundreds of pages of information and then take it to the Patient Safety Minister and ask him to intervene and then put together a case for a second investigation."

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