THE parents of a teenager who died on Christmas Eve after suffering a series of cardiac arrests say they feel let down by the inquest process and are preparing to take legal action against the NHS.

Amy Carter, 15, of Santa Maria Way, Stourport, was discharged from Worcestershire Royal Hospital with glandular fever on December 21 last year but developed a fatal infection, which caused her death when she returned three days later.

Margaret Barnard, deputy coroner for Worcestershire, ruled on Tuesday that the former Stourport High School and VIth Form Centre pupil died of natural causes.

She heard evidence from a series of medical witnesses that Amy was correctly diagnosed, treated and then discharged.

Amy’s parents, Richard and Jacqueline Carter, however, maintain the care she received was “inadequate” and that more could have been done to save her by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

FRUSTRATED They said they felt frustrated at not being able to ask ‘certain questions’ during the inquest that they believed shed important light on what happened.

Mrs Carter, 49, said during the inquest: “I cannot express myself properly to emphasise how poorly she was. I knew she was very ill and she was not well enough to go home.

“We had to reassure her all the time that she was going to be all right. In the hospital she even asked if she was going to die because she was that frightened.”

Mr Carter, 44, added: “My daughter died and I think her care was inadequate and not enough was done.”

Mrs Barnard advised that an inquest was “not a court of blame” and was not the right forum to determine whether or not that was an issue.

Following the inquest, Mr and Mrs Carter, who run pet shops in Worcester and Stourport and have two other children, Sam, 17, and Ben, 24, confirmed they would be taking further action.

Mr Carter said: “We will be taking up legal proceedings against the trust.”

TOXIC SHOCK Results from a throat swab taken in hospital revealed Amy had group A streptococcus, a commonly found bacteria, in her throat.

The medical cause of death given was right upper lobe pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) due to beta haemolytic streptococcus group A infection.

RARE INFECTION Dr Andrew Short, the Trust’s clinical director for paediatrics, who carried out an investigation into Amy’s death, said she had suffered from “a rare and overwhelming” type of infection that could have taken effect rapidly.

He told the inquest at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court in Stourport that of all the cases of children with STSS over the past two years, not one was associated with glandular fever and that the case was “unique.”

The court heard that group A streptococcus is present in the throats of 30 per cent of the population and it is not medical practice to treat it when someone is diagnosed with glandular fever.

John Rostill, chief executive of the hospitals trust, said: “Sadly, no-one could have predicted that following Amy’s discharge from hospital with glandular fever she would develop the very rare and overwhelming type of streptococcal infection which led to her tragic death.

“Following Amy’s death, a full investigation was carried out by the trust, which found that at all stages of her hospital stay, Amy received appropriate care.”

DETERIORATED After being discharged from hospital on December 21, Amy was taken to an out-of-hours GP the following day but no serious health problems were detected and she was again diagnosed with glandular fever.

On Christmas Eve, after her health deteriorated, she was taken back to hospital by ambulance at about noon.

She was successfully resuscitated three times before suffering a final fourth arrest.