Chief executive of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust Dr Nnenna Osuji said:

“The passion of our frontline specialist sickle cell service staff to providing excellent care for patients living with sickle cell disease was noted by the CQC inspection team. I am committed to working with these dedicated colleagues – and the patients and community they so clearly care about – to ensure we develop and deliver outstanding care and experience for local people.

“Our community around North Mid is disproportionately impacted by sickle cell disease, and we are determined to meet and sustain the excellent standard of care they deserve. Care of patients with red cell disorders including both sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia is a priority for North Mid, given the prevalence of these conditions in our local population.

“The death of Evan Nathan Smith was a tragedy and I want to reiterate our apology and condolences to his family and to our community whose confidence has been shaken. We have made changes at North Mid as a direct result of Evan’s death and are making progress on our comprehensive improvement plan for the service. These include developing an allocated space on one of our wards for patients with sickle cell disease; daily review at our Trust-wide site meeting of patients with sickle cell disorder, and enhanced training for staff. We continue to provide a dedicated psychologist to the service and in-patient access to dieticians and therapists as needed. 

“North Mid engages with specialist peer review for haemoglobinopathies and is actively working with our patients and local communities to make improvements to ensure the significant population need, is reflected in our planning and strategy.”