THE parents of a nine-year-old girl who died after a routine appendix operation have spoken of their battle to find out the truth about their daughter's death.

Audrey Blair, from Hempstead, Gillingham, died in November, 2000, when complications set in after her treatment at Medway Maritime Hospital.

The hospital is promising to implement in full a report just published which found that staff failed to spot Audrey's deteriorating condition in time.

A panel of NHS experts working for the Department of Health found the hospital should have involved a consultant in Audrey's treatment sooner. Staff arranging her operation became distracted from the need to keep resuscitating and reassessing her, the panel found. A more senior presence might have addressed the oversight.

At an inquest into Audrey's death in August, the jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure and found a "serious lack of post-operative care". But the experts also found that no single person or event was responsible for Audrey's death. Dr Alaisdair Stewart, Medway NHS Trust's medical director, said action was being taken to prevent another tragedy.

In a statement Audrey's parents, Joe and Alison, said: "The hostile stance adopted by the Trust towards the family at the inquest caused immense additional anguish and pain. Although we know that the Trust now regrets this approach, it highlights the need for completely independent support in such cases.

"In truth, what the bereaved really need in these circumstances is:

* a truthful explanation

* an apology

* an assurance that the errors will not be repeated.

"We remain concerned that if we had not had access to expert medical knowledge and sufficient finance to match the trust's legal representation at the inquest, the truth of what happened to our daughter would never have been revealed.

"We feel strongly that it should not be left to the bereaved to fight against such odds for the truth, however, if one child's life is saved as a result, our struggle will have been worth it."

Mr and Mrs Blair said the hospital's proposed action plan is incomplete and that and two recommendations are not adequately addressed. They added: "In fairness we feel that Dr Alaisdair Stewart, Medway NHS Trust medical director, has not had sufficient time to give it the attention it deserves.

"We doubt that the necessary time has been devoted to the process of consultation and formulation of the plan. We note that there is no timetable, resource allocation, success criteria or auditing mechanisms in the plan."

The couple said the two recommendations inadequately addressed were the need for an anaesthetist to be called when a child needs resuscitation and the need for independent support for the bereaved in cases where an inquest was pending.

Mr and Mrs Blair added: "This recommendation is the sad and regrettable acknowledgement by the panel that when things went wrong the hospital's priority was to protect its own staff rather than support the family."