The family of a teenager who died from heart failure has described their anger and pain while listening to testimony during the coronial inquest into her death.
The inquest, held in Cairns, is investigating the teenager's death and those of two other women from Doomadgee in Queensland, as well as the adequacy of care given to them.
The three women all died from rheumatic heart disease over a two-year period.
The families of teenagers Betty Booth, Shakaya George and 37-year-old Adele Sandy attended Cairns Coroner's Court for a second day, to hear shocking evidence from medical staff who treated their loved ones.
No formal handover of care
Dr Mary Anderson was working at the Doomadgee hospital on a week long rotation, and was the last doctor to see Ms Booth before she died on September 23, 2019.
Dr Anderson told the inquest there was no formal handover before she took control of Ms Booth's care.
She said the only information she was given from the outgoing doctor as he flew out of Doomadgee was a brief text message saying, "two patients, very sick".
Dr Anderson also told the coroner she didn’t have access to the patient database of Doomadgee community health centre, from where Ms Booth had been referred to the hospital.
Dr Anderson explained that throughout her time working in Doomadgee, the hospital and Gidgee Healing community health centre “were not cohesive, and they operated separately”.
"I didn’t understand my patients as well as I should have," she told the court.
Paula Booth (right) says there's not a day that goes by that she doesn't think about her younger sister Betty. Source: NITV The Point: Tanisha Stanton
'We’re just keeping strong'
The family of Ms Booth had mixed emotions after receiving the apology from Dr Anderson.
"[I felt] a bit sad, angry but I thanked her for talking and telling her side of the story, apologising to us for what she did … [and for] the doctor who didn’t do the hand over properly," Ms Booth's older sister Paula Booth told NITV.
Uncle Matthew Ned, a close relative of Ms Booth, said while Dr Anderson’s testimony was difficult to hear, her apology both in and outside of the courtroom will help the family move forward.
"She had the courage to come here and talk about what happened to sister and because of that, I'm feeling a bit of weight going off me," he said.
"It was very hard for me to hold my anger back in court, it was very hard because of the way they were speaking about my niece.
"She [Dr Anderson] shook our hands and apologised, she apologised to me and we let it go.
"It's very, very hard for us to go through all this. We got family members all over that have passed away. We’re just keeping strong, we’ve got to be strong, for our next generation and our community."
The inquest continues tomorrow, with more medical staff expected to give evidence.
Uncle Matthew Ned and Paula Booth say while their pain won't go away after the loss of Betty, the apology from Dr Mary Anderson has helped them along their healing journey. Photo: NITV News
