‘Raychel’ hearing to be heard in November

Heartbroken mum Marie Ferguson spoke of her relief at a date finally being set ten years since Raychel succumbed to hyponatraemia - a shortage of sodium in the blood - when she was maladminstered fluids to counteract dehydration after a routine appendix operation at Altnagelvin.

Its been a long battle for the Ferguson family who are determined someone be held accountable for Raycel’s death.

Last week Mrs Ferguson and her husband Ray travelled to Banbridge where a progress meeting was held by the public inquiry charged with investigating Raychel’s death.

The inquiry will also consider the deaths of Adam Strain, who died at the age of 4 years in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children on the 28th of November 1995 and Claire Roberts, who died at the age of 9 years on the 23rd of October 1996 at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, and Conor Mitchell, who died at the age of 15 in 2003.

Chairman Mr John O’Hara QC - appointed by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) in 2004 to investigate the circumstances surrounding the four children’s deaths - told the families the inquiry will get underway later this year.

He told the Fergusons that the public hearing will start in early November whilst an Inquiry report will be completed by the summer of 2012. The Inquiry’s total budget is £5m.

A further progress hearing has been scheduled for May 19 and whilst the Chairman didn’t schedule any others he did say there might be one in the early summer.

Speaking to the Sentinel after the progress hearing Mrs Ferguson welcomed the movement signalled by the Chair.

“To be honest everything went very well,” she said. “John O’Hara was on the ball. We now know the hearing is due to start in November.”

Mr O’Hara also told the hearing about the considerable preparatory work which has been going on behind the scenes.

As well as investigating the deaths of the four children Mr O’Hara is also allowed to look into the events following the death of Lucy Crawford - who died in similar circumstances just 14 months before Raychel’s tragic passing.

He has stated how: “the terms still permit and indeed require an investigation into the events which followed Lucy’s death such as the failure to identify the correct cause of death ...

“This reflects the contention that had the circumstances of Lucy’s death been identified correctly, and had lessons been learned from the way in which fluids were administered to her, defective fluid management would not have occurred so soon afterwards (only 14 months later) in Altnagelvin, a hospital within the same Western Health and Social Services Board area.”

Mrs Ferguson has vowed: “I’m not going to give up until someone is held accountable.”