A trainee doctor said she was "shut down" when she raised suspicions a five-year-old had a heart issue with her superiors.
Dr Jade Stewart gave evidence at the coronial inquest of five-year-old Rozalia Spadafora on Tuesday via audio-visual link.
Dr Stewart agreed she was worried Rozalia was at risk of cardiac failure at 8am on the morning on July 5, 2022.
She said her paediatric colleagues dismissed the suggestion during handover between the night and day shift.
"Are we sure this is not cardiac?" Dr Stewart recalled asking.
"[I remember] being shut down."
Rozalia is believed to have ultimately died of influenza A-induced myocarditis, a heart condition.
Conflicting evidence
Other aspects of Dr Stewart's evidence appeared to conflict with that of her colleagues.
Dr Stewart has insisted she did not know of a troponin test result, which showed Rozalia was critically ill, until 11.30am.
She said she then notified her superior, Dr Anne Mitchell, at about 12pm.
Dr Stewart insists she only viewed Rozalia's pathology results at about 12pm.
This evidence was contradicted by Dr Aidan Watters, who was working in the paediatric section of the emergency department on July 5.
Dr Watters said he remembers showing Dr Stewart information about Rozalia on a CIS screen, a computer system.
He does not remember what time this occurred, but records show Dr Watters was logged into the system at 10.25am.
He said he only remembered the incident in the 48 hours before giving evidence, having been told he logged into the CIS system. His two written statements to the court did not mention this event.
Dr Stewart told the court that as Rozalia had been assigned to Dr Mitchell, she assumed her colleague was across Rozalia's pathology results and condition.
However, Dr Watters said he remembered Dr Stewart being "very concerned about Rozalia".
Dr Watters said he "would've been very surprised if Dr Stewart did nothing" after learning of a high troponin result.
Nurses evidence
The evidence of two nurses also seems inconsistent with Dr Stewart's statements.
Nurse Sarah Retford previously told the court she informed Dr Stewart that Rozalia had returned a high troponin result on the morning of July 5, 2022.
Dr Stewart claimed she only learned about the troponin result at 11.30am after overhearing Ms Retford talking to nurse Lucinda Reumer.
Counsel assisting the coroner Michael Fordham SC suggested to Dr Stewart that she spoke with nurse Lucinda Reumer at around 10.30am and to Ms Retford at about 10.37am.
Dr Stewart strongly denied this, and said she did not have a conversation with either nurse about Rozalia before 11.30am.
Communication delays
Dr Stewart does admit to being told by the nurses that Rozalia had a "high troponin" test result at about 11.30am, while Rozalia was having an ultrasound.
She said she presumed paediatric consultant Dr Anne Mitchell, who had been assigned Rozalia's care, knew about the result.
Dr Stewart said she had agreed to look at Rozalia with Dr Mitchell about 12pm.
She said it was then she realised Dr Mitchell did not know about the result, as "she wasn't speaking as if this was a child with myocarditis".
Dr Stewart said she checked the CIS system for the exact number before telling her "shocked" colleague.
"I said, 'Rozalia looks too sick to be there, and did you know about this troponin?' And Anne said, 'no I did not'," Dr Stewart recalled.
"She was shocked but then she immediately refocused to the practicalities."
Inconsistencies
Dr Stewart was also questioned over allegedly conflicting timelines in the two statements she submitted to the court.
The Canberra Times has not seen either statement, and is not aware of what specifically is considered inconsistent.
One was written based on memory on July 6, the day after Rozalia died.
Dr Stewart said she referred to the brief of evidence and transcripts from the inquest in preparing the second statement, which helped "trigger" her memory.
This included the transcripts of Ms Reumer and Ms Retford's evidence to the inquest from October.
The inquest is expected to continue on Wednesday.
