Abhorrent breach of trust

 

A healthcare assistant working in a Covid-19 ward used a dead patient’s bank card to buy crisps from a vending machine 17 minutes after she died.

Ayesha Basharat (23) was spared jail after taking the 83-year-old woman’s card at Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital (UK) early this year.

A doctor recorded the OAP’s death at 1.56pm and Basharat was caught on camera making six US$1,41 (£1) contactless purchases just minutes later.

She later made another US$1,41 payment and tried to make two more when she next returned to work four days later.

But by that time the card had been cancelled and police arrested her during her shift on ward one while she was still in possession of the victim’s card.

Basharat, from Birmingham, initially claimed she found it on the floor and got it “muddled up” with her own card when paying for her snacks.

But a court heard how the bank cards were different colours and that Basharat had ignored hospital protocol around patient lost property.

Basharat admitted theft and fraud by false representation at Birmingham Crown Court on June 9.

But she avoided jail after being sentenced to two five-month terms to run concurrently, both suspended for 18 months.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Andrew Snowdon, from West Midlands Police, said:

“This was an abhorrent breach of trust and distressing for the victim’s family.

“They were having to come to terms with the death of a loved one from Covid-19 when they found the bank card missing –and then of course the realisation that the card was taken by someone who should have been caring for her.

“Our hospital liaison officer worked closely with Heartlands security team to gather evidence in this case. I would like to thank them and the victim’s family for their support during the investigation.

“I wish the family all the best for the future and with this conviction hope they can move on from this upsetting episode.”

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: “Ayesha Basharat was immediately suspended when this incident came to light, all steps were taken to support the patient’s family.

“The Trust has fully supported the police with their investigation and a result of Ms Basharat’s conviction, the Trust will now proceed with our internal HR processes, with due consideration given to the criminal conviction that Ms Basharat has received.”

 

‘Miracle’ baby born to mom in coma

When Marriam Ahmad went into the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran (UK) after testing positive for Covid-19, she left her overnight bag at home as she did not expect to be in for long.

At only 29 weeks pregnant, she and husband Usman had not even decided on a name for their second child.

But Marriam’s condition quickly went downhill.

The 27-year-old paralegal, who has asthma, found herself in a “very scary” situation.

“All of a sudden, my oxygen mask was on a much higher setting –I could not hear properly,” she said.

“It was very loud. I had someone washing my face, looking after me. I was very weak.”

‘Say goodbye’

It was then that her doctor started to talk about a Caesarean section and initially said that Marriam would be conscious throughout.

But she was told that her baby may not be strong enough to survive.

As the day went on, the medical team decided Marriam needed to be put into a coma. The doctor held her hand as he told her she “may not come back”.

“It just happened so quickly,” she said. “It was within about five minutes, they told me ‘you are going on a ventilator, you are having a C-section, the baby is going to come out, you will be unconscious, you might not make it. Say goodbye’.”

Marriam called her parents in Swansea and the doctor rang her husband, who was at home in Newport with their one-year-old son Yusuf.

“I didn’t even speak to my husband or my son –I have never left my son, not even for a night,” she said.

“I facetimed my parents and I was crying. It was only like a two-minute phone call –my mom was like ‘what are you talking about?’. I was lonely and I was scared.”

Marriam’s baby was born on January 18 at 8.27pm.

Known as ‘Baby Ahmad’ for the first few days of her life, she weighed about as much as a bag of sugar -1,17kg (2,5lbs).

Amazingly, and despite the doctor’s warnings, by midday the next day Marriam had woken up from the coma.

“I had no idea what happened,” she said. “I woke up. Obviously I could see there was nothing in my stomach anymore and I was in a lot of pain.”

For the next week she was not able to see her baby. The nurses took photos and videos to show Marriam, who was trying to recover herself, by now out of intensive care and in the hospital’s high dependency unit.

“Even the cleaner from ICU remembered me,” she said.

“He used to come up and say ‘how are you doing, how is Baby Ahmad? What are you going to call her? Call her something special.” – Wires

 

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