Health service condemned by daughter of woman who died while ramped

Stella Jennings spoke at the House of Assembly Select Committee inquiry on transfer of care delays on Wednesday, November 8, in Launceston.

Mrs Jennings said that since her mother Anne Pedler died, she hoped critical issues in patient care would change.

"It's been 15 months now since my mum passed away after she spent almost eight hours with ambulance services in the emergency department," she said.

"While there is nothing we can do to make her come back to us, I think that she would have wanted her death to be a catalyst for change.

"So that other families don't have to go through what we've been through."

After Mrs Pedler's death, the THS conducted a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) report.

Following this, Mrs Jennings said the LGH chief executive, the LGH assistant medical director, and the Ambulance Tasmania chief executive sat down with her and her husband at the hospital and went through the report with them.

"It was quite overwhelming," she said.

"When we went to the hospital that morning, we thought my mother's death was something that could just happen; there was nothing else that could have been done.

"When we left the hospital, we were devastated. We realised she didn't have to die."

Mrs Jennings said it wasn't until the coroner's report was released that the severity of issues that led to her mother's death became apparent.

"They didn't make a lot of those really critical issues transparent to us," she said.

"And it really wasn't until the coroner's report came down, some months later, that we began to understand the breadth and the severity of the issues and failures that ultimately led to my mum's death."

In Coroner Robert Webster's findings, he reported that while pathology tests were run, a CT scan of the pulmonary arteries was requested but not performed.

Mrs Jennings said she questioned why 24-hour pathology and radiology services could not be employed.

Mrs Jennings said at a subsequent meeting with the hospital chief executive and the health minister, she was told there was no subsequent timeframe for when she would get an answer.

"They said the matter was adequately addressed," Mrs Jennings said.

"However, there's just been no progress made in terms of 24-hour pathology or radiology.

"We're still in the same place that we were a few three months ago when my mum passed away."

Mrs Jennings said she didn't understand why no progress had been made.

"It was agreed that at that meeting, that they would look into the reasons behind why those services weren't available," she said.

"This conversation happened just after the almost billion dollar stadium sports stadium had just been announced.

"I don't think the public, and certainly not our family, would like to hear about budgetary restrictions being the barrier given that."

Hospitals North Chief Executive Fiona Lieutier on behalf of the Department of Health and LGH extended her sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mrs Pedler, and acknowledged the circumstances of this case.

"As a Department and a hospital we are committed to continuously improving the health services provided in Tasmania, and we carefully review all adverse events to learn from what has happened, and to implement changes to ensure such an event does not happen again," Ms Lieutier said.

"All recommendations made from the Root Cause Analysis have been actioned, with seven of the eight recommendations completed and the final one nearing completion. These include how to improve the process to request urgent diagnostic testing, and increased education of staff to ensure greater awareness of the requirements for escalating patient cases.

"A number of measures are also being progressed across the health system to improve access to our hospitals and to address the issue of transfer of care delays, including boosting the availability of healthcare options in the community to ease pressure on hospitals."