Arabic version: تعتذر هيئة المستشفى عن وفاة صبي يبلغ من العمر ثلاث سنوات

According to BBC News,

A hospital trust has apologized to the parents of a three-year-old boy who died from severe bleeding after his artery was pierced by a trainee doctor during a routine procedure. Aarav Chopra, from Wolverhampton, died during a biopsy at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2023, after his body had rejected an earlier liver transplant.

A spokesperson for the NHS trust running the hospital said they had not met standards expected of them and changes were made to improve care in the future. Aarav’s mother, Amrita Chopra, expressed the emotional toll the tragedy has taken on their family, stating, “The strain it’s put on us as a family has killed us. Because we took Aarav to a really good place, like he was in the best place for his care, and then they’ve basically killed him and that’s how we see it. It’s heartbreaking but we definitely don’t want other families to go through what we have been through.”

The inquest into Aarav’s death concluded that neglect contributed to the tragedy, with a coroner indicating that the incident was preventable. The family was not informed that a trainee doctor, who was thought to be a year six trainee but was actually a year four, was performing the biopsy.

Kishore Chopra, Aarav’s father, reflected on the loss, stating that their son brought joy to their lives and described the world as a much darker place without him. The family has settled a legal claim against the hospital, which admitted that with “appropriate care” Aarav’s cardiac arrest and death “would have been avoided” on the balance of probabilities.

Dr. Satish Rao, chief medical officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, extended condolences to the family and confirmed that the trust has taken full responsibility for the failings in care. Significant changes have been made to improve patient care and ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.