The family of 9-year-old Frances Sheridan, who died 36 hours after being sent home from Cavan General Hospital, has criticised the verdict returned by a jury at the inquest into her death.
The girl's parents said the verdict of natural causes was not supported by the evidence.
After her inquest in Cavan County Coroners' Court today, a solicitor for the family said:: "The family are distraught at the verdict".
Rosemary and Brian Sheridan said they believed the death of their daughter Frances from complications of appendix surgery three weeks earlier was preventable.
They said they were deeply distressed to hear her life may have been saved if senior doctors had seen her.
The family's solicitor said: "It is deeply distressing for the family that they now know that if better procedures had been in place at Cavan Hospital and perhaps if more experienced staff had been available that it may have made a difference in Frances's treatment and her untimely death, which Mr and Mrs Sheridan now believe was preventable."
Mrs Sheridan told how Frances went limp in her arms just a day after she was sent home from the accident and emergency unit at the hospital. A junior doctor, Doctor Liezl Du Plessis, sent the nine-year-old home to their house in Cootehill, Co Cavan, on January 30th 2004, after she had presented at the A&E unit complaining of severe stomach pains.
Doctor Du Plessis told the inquest she had not had access to Frances's charts from the appendix operation on January 7th and was unaware that she had suffered a ruptured appendix when she sent her home from hospital, after finding there was nothing wrong with her.
Asked whether Frances's death would have been preventable if other factors, including staffing at the hospital and access to the medical file, were addressed Doctor Du Plessis replied: "It is difficult to answer but if you had more information it probably would have made a difference."
She added: "It might have changed her mind on deciding to discharge Frances from the A&E unit that night." Mrs Sheridan said she had stayed by Frances's side for the following two nights. Mrs Sheridan said at around 5.15am on the morning of February 1 2004 her daughter began to vomit after drinking 7-Up.
"No sooner than she swallowed it than she started to get sick, it was black in colour," she said. "Frances was in my arms. She said: 'Mam, I can't see'." She added her daughter then went limp in her arms.
Despite valiant efforts by both parents and neighbours to resuscitate Frances she was later pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital by ambulance.
PA