'Our daughter's asthma death must not be in vain'

The parents of a 13-year-old girl who died after an asthma attack led to a cardiac arrest have said they fear "other families will lose children because asthma is too easily dismissed".

Emily Albino, from Brent, died on 16 December 2024. In the last 13 months of her life she attended Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow 10 times for coughing, shortness of breath, headaches and fevers.

Her parents Tatiana and Ciro said they were left feeling "constantly dismissed" by staff when they raised concerns about Emily's worsening symptoms.

A spokesperson for London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust offered their "deep condolences" to Emily's family.

Mrs Albino said: "We believe a series of systemic failures contributed to her death and we will not allow her to become just another case and a statistic."

She added that her daughter's condition was worsened by anxiety.

"As a family, we feel that nobody helped us and others actually worsened Emily's anxiety by not listening to our concerns," she added.

During her visits to Northwick Park Hospital, Emily was seen seven times in the Urgent Care Centre and three times in the paediatric A&E department.

A spokesperson for the trust said an investigation into her care found that the treatment offered to Emily was appropriate at the specific time but "could have been better co-ordinated across different helthcare teams".

"We apologise for the pain that this will have caused Emily's family," they said.

The family's solicitors said that the review concluded "several opportunities were identified where earlier intervention, structured follow-up, or a more co-ordinated approach may have improved management and outcomes".

Mrs Albino said there was no reason for her "talented" daughter to die as she did.

"We tried so hard to make sure Emily had the care and treatment she needed, and then the support she needed, but we were constantly dismissed," she said.

"We now worry that other families will lose children because asthma is too easily dismissed, and not viewed as potentially life-threatening.

"There was no reason for Emily to lose her life and we don't want any other family to lose their child in such an avoidable manner."

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust said improvements had been made in the management of asthma care for children, including asthma action plans being added to electronic care records and improvements to referral processes to GPs and community care.

"We have also introduced a new triage process and tool to identify children with severe asthma more swiftly, and introduced a new clinic to provide specific care for this group of young people," a spokesperson added.

Emily's family told the BBC they were concerned they may not be the only family feeling dismissed about their child's asthma.

Amy Rossall, the family's solicitor from Hudgell Solicitors, said: "Emily's family want lessons to be learnt from what's happened to Emily, so other families don't suffer in the same way as they have.

"We would urge families who have experienced anything similar to seek legal advice."

Asthma is a chronic condition which causes inflammation and narrowing of the airways, leading to shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing.

It is the most common long-term condition in children and young people in the UK, and affects approximately one in 11 children.

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