Media statement regarding our care of Tafida Raqeeb
”Tafida Raqeeb has been safely transferred from The Royal London Hospital to Genoa, Italy and is now under the care of the Gaslini Hospital.
"This has been a difficult few months for everyone involved, and I pay tribute to our staff for maintaining high standards of care with the utmost professionalism throughout this period.
“I am also grateful to the Gaslini team for their cooperation and skill in managing the transfer.
“Above all, we wish Tafida and her family well for the future.”
Dr Alistair Chesser
Group chief medical officer
Barts Health NHS Trust
Notes to editor
Our clinicians always aim to reach an agreement with parents about the most appropriate care for their child.
Unfortunately there are sometimes rare situations where an agreement cannot be reached, and where the treating team believe that continued treatment is not in the best medical interests of a child.
In such situations we are expected to follow the national guidance of the General Medical Council (GMC), and seek an independent legal view about the overall best interests of the child. The role of the Family Division of the High Court is to determine this, balancing medical factors against any other relevant considerations.
We followed GMC guidance and referred this case to the Family Division of the High Court to reach an independent view about Tafida’s best interests.
The High Court weighed up clinical and ethical considerations and decided on the balance of evidence that life-sustaining treatment should continue. After careful consideration regarding the wider implications of the judgment, we decided not to appeal.