Victorian children’s deaths prompt urgent care helpline for parents

A crisis hotline has been established for parents worried their sick kids aren’t getting proper treatment in our busy emergency departments.

Parents concerned about their child’s health in hospital will be able to seek second opinions from clinicians by calling a ­hotline after a series of preventable deaths in which emergency departments failed to diagnose serious illnesses.

Some of the children’s parents had desperately tried to raise their concerns about misdiagnoses, but they fell on deaf ears.

The measure will be trialled at the Northern Hospital starting on September 9.

The Herald Sun first revealed in September 2022 that pediatricians were alarmed by a spate of child deaths in emergency departments.

11 children suffered preventable deaths in emergency rooms over a five-year period. Picture: David Crosling

A government report obtained by this masthead through Freedom of Information laws later confirmed that 11 children had died between January 2017 and June 2022.

The number of deaths spiked in 2022.

The children’s deaths equated to a sentinel event, which is when a patient dies or suffers severe harm due to a hospital failure.

Noah Souvatzis was one of 11 children who died during that five-year period.

He was just 19 months when he died at Wangaratta hospital, in a tragedy which could have been avoided if staff had listened to his mum, Steph, coroner Katherine Lorenz found.

“Parents know their child best,” Ms Lorenz said at the recent inquest into Noah’s death.

“Had Steph been listened to, Noah’s care should have been escalated.

“This is likely to have changed Noah’s outcome.”

Noah Souvatzis, 19 months old, died after a series of catastrophic hospital blunders.

A further nine children suffered permanent loss of function in the same period, and another required lifesaving surgery.

“It’s our responsibility to learn from every sentinel event to ensure it never happens again and that Victorians are receiving the best possible care,” Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.

“We’re making significant changes to the way our health services respond to patient deterioration because we know this has historically, and unacceptably, been a significant factor in paediatric sentinel events.

“The new urgent concern helpline will support families and patients and ensure they have somewhere to turn if they feel their concerns aren’t being heard.”

Amrita Lanka, 8, was taken to Monash Children's Hospital where she later passed away.

Amrita Lanka was just eight when she died from lymphocytic myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, at Monash Children’s Hospital in April 2022.

Her parents had rushed her to the emergency department with suspected appendicitis a day earlier.

Amrita’s grieving mum Satya Tarapureddi said hospital staff dismissed her concerns and told her not to worry about the severity of her daughter’s condition.

“It’s not very easy to lose a daughter,” Ms Tarapureddi recently told the Coroners Court.

“They lost my girl, they just killed my daughter.”

Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said the new helpline would help parents have their concerns heard. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

The helpline was one of three recommendations made by a review into the children’s deaths.

Other planned improvements to the ways kids are treated across the state include a around-the-clock paediatric virtual consultation service.

The trial will begin on September 9.