The family of a 12-year-old Aboriginal girl who died in a Victorian hospital believe she was failed by the health system.
An inquest into the death of the girl, who has been given the pseudonym Sasha, is underway in Melbourne, with Coroner Paul Lawrie hearing evidence from seven witnesses over two days.
Sasha died at the Royal Children's Hospital on August 2, 2019, after spending four days at Central Gippsland Health.
An autopsy found she died from complications of influenza, pneumonia and septicaemia, followed by cardiac and respiratory failure.
Sasha had been feeling flu-like symptoms from July 12 after returning from a camp, counsel assisting the coroner Leading Senior Constable Lee Thomson said.
Between July 12 and her admission into the regional hospital on July 28, Sasha saw a GP three times with each doctor diagnosing her as having a viral illness.
On the morning of her hospital admission, the 12-year-old woke up with a high fever, chest pains and could not walk.
Doctors still believed she had a viral illness and did not do further tests on her heart, the coroner was told.
Signage for the Royal Children’s Hospital is seen in Melbourne, Wednesday, October 6, 2021. The cancer ward of Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne has been designated a Tier 1 COVID-19 exposure site. (AAP Image/James Ross) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP / JAMES ROSS/AAPIMAGE
She was immediately placed into intensive care and underwent urgent heart surgery on August 1, but died the next day.
Sasha, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, was under a child protection care order at the time of her death.
Jenny Jones, a senior child protection practitioner, told the coroners court the Department of Family, Fairness and Housing had to provide consent for any of Sasha's medical decisions.
But records showed the department was only notified Sasha was in hospital on July 31, three days after she was first admitted, Ms Jones said.
The department gave consent for Sasha to be urgently transferred to Melbourne on that day.
Sasha's father also told the inquest he had a diagnosed heart condition that was hereditary, but no one from the department or the hospital sought out his medical history.
He told the inquest that information could have made a difference to Sasha's care and he believed her symptoms were not taken seriously.
Speaking outside the court before Monday's hearing, Sasha's paternal grandmother said the 12-year-old had been a proud Aboriginal girl who was full of life.
"We are heartbroken Sasha will not grow old and we will never again hear her voice sing out," the woman told reporters.
"She deserved the medical treatment she needed and was let down by child protection and by the regional hospital."
The inquest continues.
