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Health Minister Meredith Hammat says she would support a coronial inquest into the death of an eight-month-old girl at a hospital in WA’s Goldfields.
Willow Katarina Horne was admitted to the emergency department at Kalgoorlie Health Campus just after midnight with respiratory issues on September 7 last year. She died at the campus two days later.
Her parents, Kaydence Sutherland and William Horne, are still searching for answers after an examination conducted by the WA Country Health Service was unable to provide a definitive cause of Willow’s death.
Sutherland told 9News Perth she believed a lot more could have been done to save the life of her daughter.
“Once they finally realised that it was probably not just bronchitis or pneumonia, and that it was something a bit more serious, making sure that patients are marked as the right priority, and stuff like that should have, should have occurred,” she said.
“I believe she would have had a great chance if she made it to Perth.
“As a first-time mum, I obviously don’t have much experience dealing with hospital systems or sick kids.
“I definitely felt like they just treated me like I was a first-time mum that that didn’t know what was going on.
9News Perth reported an internal investigation found “multiple opportunities” to escalate baby Willow’s care were missed.
Hammat said the death of baby Willow was a terrible tragedy and expressed her sympathy to Kaydence and William.
“I think for most of us, we can’t imagine what it would be like to lose a child,” she said.
“Of course, we would welcome any coronial inquest. Those processes are very important for learning how we can continue to improve so that we avoid future tragedies.”
Asked if the attorney general would request a review, Hammat said the state government respected the independence of the coroner.
She said she had not seen the SAC1 report yet, as it was still listed as confidential patient information, but she had been briefed on the recommendations.
“It’s very important that those recommendations are now implemented, because they go to the quality of care at that hospital,” Hammat said.
“I would say our healthcare staff, they are working in very difficult circumstances, providing incredibly important care.
“What I do know is when these circumstances, these tragic events happen, they do have a deep impact on the people that work in our healthcare system.”
On Sunday, WA Country Health Service’s executive director of clinical excellence Dr Helen Van Gessel said an investigation was yet to formally identify the cause of Willow’s death.
“While we do not yet have the confirmed cause of death as part of their work, as a panel we formed the view that Willow’s death was likely due to myocarditis,” she said.
“Now, myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, usually related to a viral infection. It is very rare, difficult to diagnose, and unfortunately, when it causes heart failure, so failure of the heart muscle, it has very high fatality rate, especially in young children, even in cases where the care is through specialist pediatric hospitals.
“Unfortunately, children with myocarditis sometimes die.
“That finding does not, of course, diminish our responsibility to examine every aspect of care, so we can strengthen our systems and processes and support our hard-working healthcare staff to provide the very best care they can.”
