AN "ACCOUNTABLE" PUBLIC HOSPITAL AT WORK

How to kill a healthy baby and get away with it

"Nursing staff at Perth's main maternity hospital hampered a possible murder investigation into the death of a four-month-old baby, refusing to be interviewed and failing to provide statements until more than a year after the tragedy. The boy died on March 1, 2001, after being given a massive unprescribed overdose of paracetemol and codeine when he was just one week old and in the care of the King Edward Memorial Hospital. When his respiratory system collapsed, medical staff initially thought he was a victim of sudden infant death syndrome. But by accident, tests uncovered the lethal levels of paracetemol and codeine in his system.

At an inquest into the death yesterday, state coroner Alastair Hope was told the baby's mother was interviewed by police shortly after the overdose and denied ever giving her son any drugs. Sharon Anderson, described as a softly spoken and unsophisticated Aboriginal woman, had been prescribed panadeine forte following the birth of her son. The coroner heard the fatal overdose could only have been administered if the drugs had been completely dissolved or made into a paste. Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Martin Crane, based with the police child investigation unit at the time of the death, admitted yesterday that the case should have been handled differently.

Ms Anderson's son, who is not named for cultural reasons, was born a thriving and generally healthy baby on November 8, 2001. But seven days later, the boy went into respiratory collapse and suffered substantial brain damage. He never recovered and did not leave hospital during his short life, dying 18 weeks later at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. Ms Anderson, who has no history of post-natal depression and has never been suspected of abusing her three other children, returned to her home in the remote mining town of Wiluna to tend to her family two days later. During a 90-minute interview with police on November 20, she repeatedly denied giving her son any drugs.

Detective Sergeant Crane said hospital management initially assured police that staff would fully co-operate with the inquiry. But he said that within days, the nursing staff had been given legal advice through their union, the Australian Nursing Federation, that they should not take part in interviews while the baby was alive. Detective Sergeant Crane said the boy was not expected to live longer than a few days, but he did not die until March 1 when life-support was removed. During that time, police distributed a questionnaire to staff, but the line of investigation came under fire from ANF secretary Mark Olson, and not one nurse returned the form.

Five days after the baby's death, a memorandum was sent to relevant staff requesting they submit statements to the police. But Detective Sergeant Crane said that six months later he had yet to receive most statements. He told the inquiry that a clinical governance co-ordinator appointed to liaise with police said the hospital was under-staffed and the statements were "not a priority". Most of the statements were not given to police until more than a year after the overdose, which created problems in piecing together the events that led to the baby's death. "It was unsatisfactory, it made it difficult," Detective Sergeant Crane said. "It was frustrating. Again, if I did the job today, I would do it differently."

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

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