'We're lost without him': Family of father who died 'due to failings during weight-loss surgery'

Nadim Butt died as a result of failings in his care during gastric bypass surgery at Royal Stoke University Hospital, formerly University Hospital of North Staffordshire, on September 5 in 2014.

A two-day inquest was undertaken and it was concluded he died as a result of neglect.

Nadim's sister, Diba Butt, said that the family was very happy with the results of the inquest, but wished it had not been necessary.

She said: "Nadim was very lively and family orientated. He was witty and clever. He was the pillar of our house, and we're all lost without him. We're all struggling – his wife, his kids, our mum.

"It's a long time we've been waiting for this inquest and we're glad we've got the outcome that we have. And although we've lost Nad, we hope the recommendations made by the coroner are taken on board and other lives are saved."

Lydia Artzen, the family's negligence lawyer, said: "While it's the best possible outcome, ideally it wouldn't have been necessary because ideally Nadim would have received the care that he should have received. Had he received this care the evidence that the coroner received says that his death could have been prevented."

Diba said: "We can now have a bit of time where we can mourn my Dad, because he only died a month ago and we haven't been able to deal with that.

"We're going to just take it from there really. Our main aim is for the hospital to take the recommendations on board."

Ms Artzen added: "Nadim's tragic death has left his wife without a husband and their children without a father. This was a complex operation and post-operative complications are not uncommon but doctors and nurses should be trained to recognise the symptoms and act quickly to prevent them from causing irreparable damage."

The hearing, at North Staffordshire Coroner's Court in Stoke, heard the 48-year-old of Trinity Gorse had been battling his weight for years prompting the gastric bypass surgery which essentially makes the stomach smaller and makes people feel full.

He was discharged two days after the procedure only to be readmitted the same day.

But Mr Butt died within 24-hours of multiple organ failure the inquest heard.

Staff at the hospital were not able to contact a bariatric surgeon in time.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, in charge at Royal Stoke, today admitted failings in his care.

They declared they're own investigation into Mr Butt's death concluded that all 'policies and procedures' were followed but conceded access to on-call bariatric consultants needed improvement.

On behalf of the trust medical director Dr John Oxtoby offered condolences to the family.

"The trust carried out an investigation following Mr Butt's death.

"This found that all trust policies and procedures were followed, which are based on National Institute of Clinical Excellence and British Obesity and Metabolic Surgical Society recommendations.

However, as the inquest also found, the investigation did find that access to on-call bariatric consultants needs to be improved."