School girl died due to hospital treatment, Belfast Coroner finds

By By Rebecca Black, Press Association

A school girl died due to treatment she received at a Belfast hospital, an inquest has found.

Claire Roberts, nine, died at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in 1996 after being admitted with symptoms which included vomiting and drowsiness.

She was found to have died from a condition known as hyponatraemia, which is linked to a shortage of sodium in the blood.

She was one of five children whose deaths were investigated in the Hyponatraemia Inquiry.

Four of the deaths were found to be "avoidable" and the inquiry chairman Sir John O'Hara QC concluded there was a "cover up" by some consultants in relation to the care of Claire Roberts - and that those involved were more intent on protecting their own reputations to "avoid scrutiny".

A new inquest was then ordered into Claire's death.

(The family of Claire Roberts - her brother Gareth and parents Jennifer and Alan outside court in Belfast)

After hearing four days of evidence Coroner Joe McCrisken found the cause of Claire's death to be cerebral edema due to hyponatraemia, due to inappropriate profusion of fluids in combination with the effects of a viral illness and toxicity from treatments she had been given.

He said lessons should have been learned from the death of Adam Strain in 1995, another case examined in the Hyponatraemia Inquiry.

"If medics had taken the time and the care to carry out the correct tests, in all likelihood with appropriate treatment Claire would have recovered," he told Belfast Coroner's Court.

"Her death was caused by the treatment that she received in hospital."

Mr McCrisken added: "The Hyponatraemia Inquiry found that lessons had not been learnt from Claire's death, other children have already died from hyponatraemia.

"Mr and Mrs Roberts made it clear yesterday that they remain to be convinced that lessons have indeed been learned from their daughter's death almost 23 years ago.

"They, it seems, have lost trust in the health service, they have it seems to me in fact set the health service an immense challenge.

"It seems to me they say, show us that things have changed, prove to us that things are different now, prove to us that we can be satisfied that lessons have been learnt from the deaths of Claire, Adam, Lucy, Raychel and Conor.

"The challenge will not be easy but it is one the health service it seems to me must strive to meet."

Mr Roberts thanked the Coroner in court following the findings.

"We have struggled for 22 years to establish the truth, from what we have heard from you this morning sir, you have delivered the truth," he said.

Speaking outside court, Mr and Mrs Roberts welcomed the findings.

"We would like to thank the Coroner for reaching a verdict which after 22 years of cover up finally identifies the truth," he said.

Mrs Roberts broke down in tears as she remembered her daughter.

"I talk to Claire every day, and I know she would be proud of her mummy and daddy," she said.

Claire's brother Gareth said of his little sister: "She was a beautiful fun loving child who will remain in my heart for as long as I live.

"We have been robbed of a lot of things but they can never take Claire away from us, as my mother said yesterday, love never dies."

In a statement a spokesman for the Belfast Trust said it wished to extend its deepest sympathies with the Roberts family.

"We will carefully consider the Coroner's conclusions and recommendations to ensure that the Trust learns from Claire's death," he said.

"Over the past decade the guidance and training around the management of fluids in children in Northern Ireland has been radically transformed to ensure as far as possible their safety.

"Additionally, Belfast Trust, as part of the wider Health and Social Care system, is fully participating in a process to consider and implement the recommendations from Sir John O'Hara's Inquiry Report which was published in January 2018."