HC Deb 18 February 1998 vol 306 c712W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish an independent public inquiry into the death of Lexie McConnell. [30209]

Mr. Milburn

The death of Lexie McConnell was a tragic incident, and I fully sympathise with Mr. and Mrs. McConnell's great loss.

An independent inquiry was offered in 1994 by Anglia and Oxford Regional Health Authority which would have covered the issue of steroid prescriptions for children, using Lexie's case as a base-line for the inquiry. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell did not however agree with the proposed format of the inquiry and chose not to participate. Consequently the inquiry did not take place.

More recently the McConnells have been pursuing a legal claim against Oxfordshire Health Authority on the ground of post traumatic stress caused by their daughter's death. The case has not yet been heard by the Courts. It is therefore not appropriate for an independent public inquiry to take place whilst a separate private legal claim is being brought against Oxfordshire Health Authority by the McConnells.