Sandipan Dhar’s grieving parents seek answers at inquest into toddler’s Joondalup Health Campus death

The devastated parents of a toddler who died two days after being refused a blood test at Joondalup Health Campus hope a coroner finally gives them the answers they sorely need. Sandipan Dhar did not make it to his second birthday, dying on March 24 last year on his second presentation to the emergency department. His desperate parents Sanjoy and Saraswati Dhar had begged for a blood test two days earlier, clutching a GP referral that said the boy had a long-running fever and “would need bloods”. But the doctor who saw him - after his temperature climbed to 38.9C - decided against a blood test, putting his symptoms down to viral tonsillitis. He was already on antibiotics, having been diagnosed with the same condition by a GP two days earlier. Sandipan died from complications of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a deadly blood cancer that is curable if treated early. While the public hospital is operated for the State Government by private company Ramsay Health Care, the boy’s death triggered a formal investigation by WA Health, which deemed his care “appropriate and well managed”. Then in November, an independent external review by Ramsay cleared the hospital of wrongdoing but gave 10 recommendations including an overhaul of its paediatric emergency department. It also recommended an inquest be held so the Dhars could be given “some closure, particularly over remaining points of conjecture in his care”. Within hours, the WA Coroner’s Court confirmed the probe would be held. Speaking on the eve of the three-day hearing, Mr Dhar said he and his wife felt the earlier investigations were “just a clean-up for themselves”. “This is our only hope ... we are expecting, after we lost our son, the truth will come out,” he told The West Australian. “Our concern is accountability. Lots of protocols in place but no monitoring.” A Ramsay spokeswoman said the company acknowledged the family’s profound grief and remained deeply saddened by their loss. “We respect and support the coroner’s inquest and await the coroner’s findings and recommendations,” she said. “We remain committed to the ongoing development of our services and providing safe, high-quality care to all our patients.” Premier Roger Cook said parents wanted to know what went wrong in such tragedies, “that it’s not going to happen to someone else”. “I hope for everyone it provides closure and a sense of being heard,” he said. “This is a horrible, horrible thing that you lose someone that is in the care of a hospital or a medical professional. It happens occasionally, and it’s important that we respond to any concerns.” The Dhars had taken Sandipan to a Clarkson GP clinic five times over the preceding weeks. A 2021 inquiry into Perth Children’s Hospital after the death of Aishwarya Aswath highlighted “the importance of the parent’s extraordinary role” in recognising deterioration in their child.