Claire Roberts: Doctor admits failing to inform coroner of death
- Published
Nine-year-old Claire Roberts died in Belfast's Royal Hospital for Sick Children in 1996
A paediatrician has admitted failing to tell a child's parents that her death should have been reported to the coroner.
It followed the death of nine-year-old Claire Roberts in 1996.
The fitness to practice tribunal heard Dr Steen agreed it was necessary to refer "Patient A's" death as it had been "sudden and unexpected" .
General Medical Council lawyers argued Dr Steen's actions at the time were "dishonest" and to "avoid scrutiny".
Dr Steen, who worked at the Belfast Health Trust, has admitted just one of a list of allegations relating to her role in the care of Claire Roberts.
The young girl died at the Royal Victoria Hospital for sick children, where Dr Steen worked, in October 1996.
The nine-year-old's death was examined as part of the Hyponatraemia Inquiry.
The inquiry, which examined the role of several doctors, investigated the deaths of three children in hospital and two other children, including Claire, who died while receiving hospital care.
Claire was referred by her GP to hospital doctors after showing symptoms of vomiting and drowsiness.
She died after being given an overdose of fluids and medication.
Dr Heather Steen, pictured in 2009, has previously denied there had been a cover-up in Claire Roberts' death
Dr Steen denied claims of a cover-up around Claire's death when she gave testimony to the Hyponatraemia Inquiry in 2012.
Dr Steen's tribunal is inquiring into allegations that between October 1996 and May 2006, she knowingly and dishonestly carried out several actions to conceal the true circumstances of the child's death.
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