Frustration over death of patient

July 15, 2013, 7:35 a.m.

Source: The Herald

Unfair pressures on medical staff to discharge patients from hospital in time to meet treatment targets have been blamed for contributing to the death of an elderly grandmother.

Kathleen Hawes said her 79-year-old mother, from Carey Bay, was moved four times between three hospitals in the weeks leading up to her death in August 2011.

Ms Hawes is calling for a series of changes after a two-year battle with the Health Care Complaints Commission and Hunter New England Health.

She said a series of failures relating to hospital shuffling, nursing care, delayed diagnosis and failure to adhere to resuscitation procedures contributed to her mothers early demise.

However, the commission deemed it not serious enough to investigate and Ms Hawes was frustrated by conciliation proceedings with Hunter New England Health.

She said the commission should have to properly investigate all complaints to identify systemic failure.

The mother of five and grandmother died from an infection in a heart valve, which was diagnosed too late.

Though the condition is by nature difficult to diagnose, Ms Hawes said there were heart tests the year before that were never finalised while her mother was shuffled between hospitals.

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Frustration over death of patient