The NHS trust that runs Croydon University Hospital has admitted liability for the death of a mother-of-two after doctors failed to detect she had suffered a miscarriage.

Croydon Health Services accepted it breached its duty of care to Fauzia Khan, 43, by failing to scan her unborn child when she attended the hospital’s emergency department with abdominal pains and bleeding.

She died three days later of multiple organ failure after the foetus became infected, causing sepsis.

Mrs Khan’s husband, Masood Khalid, 46, launched legal action over delays in her treatment in September.

RELATED: Grieving husband launches legal action against Croydon NHS trust after death of pregnant wife following 'shocking' treatment delays

The trust is now set to pay thousands of pounds in compensation to Mr Khalid and his wife’s two children after admitting out of court that Mrs Khan would probably not have died in November 2013 if doctors had detected the miscarriage.

Mr Khalid, of Oakfield Road, West Croydon, told the Croydon Guardian this week: "My main concern was to bring this up so that some lessons can be learned and lives can be saved, so I am pretty much happy with the result. 

“I hope they will be able to fix a few problems and this will not happen to many more people."

Mrs Khan - who had a seven-year-old son, Umir, with her husband and a 13-year-old daughter, Zaahra, with a previous partner - was four months pregnant with her second daughter she went to hospital with a suspected urine infection.

She feared she was losing her baby, but the emergency department doctor who saw her in the early hours of November 24 was not trained to carry out scans.

Mrs Khan returned to casualty two days later and was told she had her suffered a septic miscarriage, in which the foetus becomes infected.

Medics in the hospital’s intensive care unit prescribed the drug misoprostol to induce labour but despite Mrs Khan agreeing to the treatment at 5pm, but she did not receive it until 2am the next day, by which time she was critically ill.

She died on November 27.

The claim submitted the Mr Khalid's legal detailed nine allegations of breach of duty by Croydon Health Services.

The trust accepted its failure to assess the foetus's heart rate amounted the a breach of duty. Because of the admission, it did not respond the other eight allegations.

Mr Khalid, who married his wife in 2007, said: “They did not check the foetus properly and sent my wife home. That’s when the big mistake happened.

"Had they checked the foetus, the heart rate, properly on those dates, things could have been different today.”

Mrs Khan’s children remained traumatised by their mother’s death, Mr Khalid said.

He added: "Things are going on, but their mum can not come back and the effects will probably remain forever. They still remember.

"Croydon University Hospital is on London Road and we pass there many times a week. They see that hospital and they just comment something about, it my children. 'That is a very bad hospital' - this, that.

"It just sticks to their mind."

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Mrs Khan died after being admitted to Croydon University Hospital's emergency department

Clinical negligence solicitor Paul Sankey, of Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing Mr Khalid, said: "The trust has admitted that had a scan been carried out when Mrs Khan first visited hospital, staff would have realised she had miscarried and was developing sepsis which led to her death.

"It is of little comfort to Mr Khalid, but the trust has also apologised for its failings and his only wish now is that lessons are learned from the tragedy."

He added: "Sepsis is common and it can be life-threatening. Early warnings systems should be in place to prevent the condition being missed and it is vital that they are followed to make sure sepsis is diagnosed and treated quickly to avoid lives being needlessly lost."

Croydon Health Services spokesman said it "fully recognised" the need to improve how pregnant women were treated at its A&E department and was working to increase awareness of sepsis among its staff. 

A trust spokesman said:  “This was a very sad case and we continue to offer our wholehearted apologies and sympathies to Mrs Khan’s family. 

“We have fully recognised the need to make changes to the way that our emergency department treats pregnant women who use our services.

"We have changed the way that we work so that all pregnant women get the necessary care that they need from gynaecological and obstetric specialists, not just A&E doctors.

"We have also worked across our organisation to raise awareness of sepsis, including improving our electronic patient records so that they flag-up patients with sepsis, and our doctors now carry pocket cards to help identify sepsis and similar conditions more quickly."

A settlement between the trust and Mr Khalid is expected to be agreed within a few months.