Tafida Raqeeb: Hospital will not appeal against ruling

Bosses at a hospital where a brain-damaged girl is being treated will not appeal against a High Court decision to allow her to travel abroad.

Tafida Raqeeb has been on life support at the Royal London Hospital since she collapsed in February.

On Thursday, a judge ruled that the five-year-old's parents could take her to Italy to continue her treatment.

Barts Health NHS Trust said they decided not to appeal "after careful consideration" of the judgement.

The family's solicitor, Paul Conranthe, said Tafida's parents were relieved by the decision and would "now get on with the process of preparing to move Tafida to Italy".

The trust, which runs the hospital in Whitechapel, east London, asked the judge to rule that ending Tafida's life-support was in her best interests as any further treatment was futile.

However, Tafida's parents, Shelina Begum and Mohammed Raqeeb, raised funds to move the five-year-old to Gaslini children's hospital in Genoa.

In his judgement, Mr Justice MacDonald said it was in her best interests for "life-sustaining treatment" to continue and there was no justification to stop the child being taken abroad.

Lawyers representing Barts Health NHS Trust had said they would consider appealing, but chief medical officer Alistair Chesser confirmed that would no longer go ahead.

"Our doctors and nurses will continue to provide Tafida with the best possible care as long as she continues to be our patient," he said.

Mr Chesser added the hospital would "also support the family as they make alternative arrangements for Tafida's care".

The High Court had heard that Tafida woke her parents one morning in February complaining that she had a headache, and then had collapsed.

She was taken to hospital where doctors discovered that blood vessels in her brain were tangled and had ruptured.

On Thursday, Mr Conrathe said they hoped she would be moved to Italy "within the next 10 days".