An Australian family has indicated they will be making a claim for a hospital death due to a lack of care following a hearing into the fatal accident in which a 26 year-old drowned while taking a bath.
The report followed the death of Amy Hauserman in March 2008, who had voluntarily been admitted to the Frankston Hospital in Melbourne after doctors feared she was showing signs of schizophrenia which had resulted in Amy previously suffering with anorexia.
Two days after her admission, Amy died from “a hypoxic brain injury in a setting of immersion” which Coroner Peter White attributed to either Amy lapsing into an unconscious state during the bath or slipping and falling as she tried to get out of it.
The Coroner noted that no risk assessment had been conducted as to whether it was safe for her to take a bath unsupervised and that Amy´s consultant had not been consulted beforehand. He also said at the inquest hearing that the absence of supervision was a primary feature of Amy´s death as it would have been avoided had a nurse been present in the bathroom.
One of the nurses involved in Amy´s care gave evidence at the inquest that she was unaware there was a protocol for patients taking baths, but her testimony was contradicted by the Hospital´s Head of Nursing who said that all psychiatric ward patients should only be allowed to take a bath unsupervised after a risk assessment had been conducted.
After the Coroner´s verdict had been delivered, Amy´s father made a statement in which he confirmed that the family would be making a claim for a hospital death due to a lack of care on the grounds that had staff at the Frankston Hospital “showed her the due and proper care she deserved, she would still be us now”.
The Mornington Peninsula Health Service – against who the compensation claim for a hospital death due to a lack of care has been made – failed to comment on Mr Hauserman´s allegations; however a court date in May 2014 has now been set for the claim to be heard.