A father described yesterday how he watched helplessly as his 13-month-old son died after a four-hour hospital wait because doctors said that they were too busy to treat him.

Zia Islam said that Ahil was taken to hospital after he suffered minor burns when a cup of tea fell on him at home.

Giving evidence at the child’s inquest, Mr Islam, a 37-year-old IT consultant from Watford, said that Ahil was transferred from a specialist burns unit to Watford General Hospital in October 2005 when his condition took a turn for the worse a few days after the mishap.

The boy and his mother arrived at 11am at the hospital’s Accident & Emergency department, where he later joined them. He said that despite the infant starting a fever, vomiting and suffering severe diarrhoea, they were kept waiting for four hours.

Mr Islam claimed that he and his wife, Nazmin, were treated as though there was “nothing wrong” with their son.

He said: “When I got to A&E, my wife and Ahil were in the waiting room. He was crying and I asked, ‘What are you both doing here... haven’t you been seen yet?’ I was getting very anxious.

“One doctor told me Ahil was seriously sick, another told me they were all busy. Before anyone could see him properly, he was suffering from extreme diarrhoea in the waiting room. Every time a doctor came past, he was getting progressively weaker.”

The senior house officer examined Ahil nearly 90 minutes after his arrival. He thought he might have a chest infection and sent him for X-rays.

Mr Islam added: “As time progressed he was getting weaker, he was crying but he was beginning to lie still. At 2.15pm he went to the cubicle for a blood test. At around 3.45pm his breathing deteriorated, his eyes closed, and the doctors tried to resuscitate him.

“The only time there was a sense of urgency was when they tried to resuscitate him.When you are the parent of a very sick child, there is a limit to what you can do. You cannot offend someone or you will not get the best out of them.”

He said that he felt that he had not done everything possible. “I did not shout or make a scene — if I had we might not be sitting here today.” The hospital has admitted liability.

Dr Craig Platt, a paediatric pathologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, said that the cause of death was “most likely” to have been from a blood infection known as Staphylococcus aureus septicaemia triggered by 3 per cent burns. The infection is found in nearly half of children and normally remains dormant. However, in Ahil it caused a condition similar to toxic shock syndrome.

Ahil was first taken to the Watford casualty unit after the accident at home on September 30. He was transferred to the burns unit at Mount Vernon Hospital, northwest London, and discharged after treatment. But over the next two days he developed a fever, vomiting and then severe diarrhoea.

His condition worsened and his parents took him back to Mount Vernon where he was kept in overnight.

The next morning doctors decided he needed emergency treatment and he was sent back to Watford.

Paul Cussons, a consultant plastic surgeon at Mount Vernon’s burns unit, said that if Ahil had been treated immediately there was still “a real prospect” that he would not have survived.

“There were two processes happening. The first involves shock. When this happens, ultimately the body protects our heart and our brain, and we shut down everything else. The kidneys shut down, the peripheral circulation shuts down — that’s why his fingers and toes were cold.

“The second process is that while the untreated septicaemia progresses, toxins and bacteria can go up exponentially. Small children can compensate effectively, meaning the heart will push harder and harder until it gives its maximum. Suddenly you reach a point where the heart can’t pump any harder to help the tissues rid the toxins. Children can get to a position where they are mortally ill in a very short period of time.”

Outside the inquest Mr Islam said that his wife still woke at night crying about the loss of their younger child. The couple also have a six-year-old son.

“It would have been different for us if we were in the darkest part of the world where there is no medication or doctors available. But we were sitting in a modern hospital with medication in a cupboard not far away and nothing was given to him.”

The hearing continues.

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