Boy, 2, dies after family rushes him to hospital not realising its A&E unit had closed in NHS reforms causing half-hour delay in treatment Mother of Muhammad Hashir Maveed rushed to Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, North London, when he woke at 3am with high temperature Banged on locks doors and eventually found a nurse to call ambulance Pronounced dead at North London Middlesex Hospital, 5 miles away Investigation been launched into NHS trust that runs Chase Farm By Stephen Adams and Sanchez Manning Closed: Hashir's mother, Maryam, took her two-year-old son to Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, North London, which lost its A&E unit last month A two-year-old boy has died after his desperate family rushed him to hospital - only to discover that its A&E department had recently been closed down. The mother of Muhammad Hashir Naveed frantically tried to raise the alarm after she arrived at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, North London, at 3am last Wednesday and found the doors locked. After banging on the doors and then finding an emergency phone outside the unit, she managed to contact a nurse, who rang for an ambulance and immediately tried to resuscitate the boy. But after being ferried five miles to the North Middlesex Hospital at Edmonton - the nearest Casualty department - Hashir, as he was known, was pronounced dead. Friends said the half-hour delay caused by first going to Chase Farm may have cost the boy his life. The tragedy also highlights concerns about the dangers of closing A&E units and replacing them with so-called Urgent Care Centres. Despite paramedics and doctors working to resuscitate the boy for 45 minutes, Hashir was pronounced dead at 4am. Last night a family friend said he thought Hashir might have survived if the A&E department at Chase Farm had still been open. A full investigation has now been launched into the death by the NHS trust that runs Chase Farm, which lost its A&E last month. Nick de Bois, Conservative MP for Enfield North, said the closure had left a "confusing mish-mash" of emergency services at the site. Calling on Ministers to review dozens of planned closures across the country urgently, he said downgrades resulted in people being forced to make complicated decisions about where to go, in the most "distressing" of circumstances. Hashir's mother, Maryam, 27, decided to take him to hospital after he woke up in the night, listless and running a high temperature. His father Muhammad was working so the boy's uncle drove them. Friend Waleed Mirza said: "He thought it was better to drive themselves to Chase Farm rather than calling an ambulance. So they drove to the hospital but when they got there A&E was closed. The 24-hour department shut on December 9 and was replaced with a doctor-run Urgent Care Centre, which is open from 9am to 9pm. It is not staffed or equipped to deal with patients in life-threatening situations. At night, emergency cover is provided by an on-site GP. Patients can use an emergency phone which is situated at the entrance door. When Hashir's mother found the phone, it was answered by a senior nurse. She came down to help, rang for an ambulance at 3.12am, and started resuscitation. The ambulance arrived at 3.20am and it got to the North Middlesex at 3.37am. Hashir was pronounced dead at 4am. Mr Mirza said: "If doctors had been able to treat him at Chase Farm it might have made all the difference." But he said Hashir's parents, who were too distraught to speak last night, accepted what had happened was God's will. Mr Mirza described Hashir as a "very lively boy" with no known medical history. Mr de Bois, who campaigned against the Chase Farm A&E closure for years, said: "My deepest sympathies go to the parents and family for the tragic and shocking loss of their son. They went to Chase Farm in good faith under the most distressing circumstances, thinking that this was the right place to go in the middle of the night. He continued: "It is not fair to expect people to distinguish between urgent care and life- threatening conditions when they are at their most vulnerable, but that's what they are expected to do now that A&Es are being downgraded across the country to Urgent Care Centres. With Chase Farm's UCC only open 12 hours a days but with the promise of 24-hour doctor cover, it is not surprising that what is available can appear to be a confusing mish-mash of emergency services. Frantic: The family banged on the doors until a nurse emerged and called an ambulance to transport them He also called on Ministers to review all A&E closure plans across the country. Those behind the closure said the A&E had to shut because it could not be properly staffed around the clock, which was dangerous. But campaigners said the decision - which they believed was to save the NHS money - would put people's lives at risk. In Opposition, David Cameron vowed to save Chase Farm from an "unjustified" top-down reorganisation, and promised a "bare-knuckle fight" over the closure of local hospital services. In October 2007 he and fellow Tory Andrew Lansley even joined campaigners outside the hospital in a protest. But in September 2011 Mr Lansley, as Health Secretary, approved the A&E closure. A spokesman for Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family on the loss of their son. The new Urgent Care Centre at Chase Farm Hospital is open from 9am to 9pm seven days a week. There is an emergency phone at the entrance for patients who arrive outside these hours. The trust can confirm that an ambulance was called immediately by trust staff. The child was attended to onsite where resuscitation was initiated. The child was placed in the care of the London Ambulance Service who continued to resuscitate him during the transfer to North Middlesex University Hospital. A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Extensive efforts were made by staff to resuscitate the boy and he was taken as a priority to North Middlesex Hospital."