Parents of seven-year-old girl who died in Perth hospital meet with state health minister

The grieving parents of a seven-year-old girl who died in hospital after developing a fever have had an important meeting today.

Embattled West Australian Health Minister Roger Cook has met with the devastated parents of a seven-year-old girl who died in hospital, as pressure continues to mount for him to quit over the tragic bungle.

Aishwarya Aswath developed a fever on Good Friday and was taken to Perth Children’s Hospital the next day, but had to wait about two hours in the emergency department before she received treatment.

She died soon after from a bacterial infection.

An internal report into the tragedy made 11 recommendations — including improvement to the triage process, a clear way for parents to escalate concerns and a review of cultural awareness for staff — but Aishwarya’s parents said the report raised more questions than it answered.

Mr Cook visited the family’s Morley home on Friday and told reporters afterwards that they had a respectful and private conversation.

Aishwarya died at Perth Children's Hospital over the Easter weekend. Picture: 9 News

The minister earlier this week publicly apologised to the family for the hospital failure, but the girl’s visibly emotional father Aswath Chavittupara said an apology was not good enough.

“We need to change the system. We have to fight,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“I think some of the staff were ignoring us ... they just didn’t want to even talk to us at some stage.

“We found the staff were a bit rude and we found that the level of humanity they had was very low.”

Aswath Sasidharan and Prasitha Sasidharan are still seeking answers after their daughter’s death. Picture: 9 News

Mr Chavittupara said he had endured sleepless nights waiting for the report, while his wife Prasitha Sasidharan expressed disappointment in the outcome.

“It raised more questions than answers, so we didn’t get the answers which we were looking for,” she said.

Mr Chavittupara said they knew the report would “look at some of the areas, and would ignore the rest”.

“So that’s why we’ve been pushing for an external inquiry,” he said.

The family wants a broader independent inquiry to look at all 21 near-misses in the past 15 months – not just their daughter’s case.

Mr Chavittupara said either he, his wife or one of their representatives should be among the panellists for the external inquiry.

A report into Aishwarya’s death was handed down this week. Picture: 9 News

Child and Adolescent Health Service chair Debbie Karasinski resigned after the report was handed down.

Australian Medical Association state president Andrew Miller said Mr Cook should go too.

“I don’t think that he’s the right man for the job anymore,” Dr Miller told reporters.

The state opposition has also described Mr Cook’s position as untenable.

“There is no way to spin this. The responsibility for making sure our hospitals are properly resourced with appropriate equipment is on him,” opposition spokeswoman Libby Mettam said.

“If he can’t ensure that our hospitals have the medical staff they need and have access to basic lifesaving equipment, then he is not the best person to oversee this health portfolio.”

But Premier Mark McGowan has stood by Mr Cook, saying his job was safe.

“The health minister has done a very good job for over four years now,” Mr McGowan said.