An investigation revealed that staff members at a Melbourne hospital failed to respond to calls about an 8-year-old girl’s condition, which eventually led to her death.
At the hospital, Amrita Varshini Lanka, who had a fever and stomach pain, was initially ruled out of appendicitis.
However, she developed breathing problems and died a couple of hours later.
During an inquest, her mother, Satya Tarapureddi, accused the hospital’s staff of ignoring her daughter’s pleas for help.
When the girl and her mother were taken to the ward at around 3 pm, a nurse showed Amrita the hospital’s emergency button.
However, no one responded to her calls. According to Ms. Tarapureddi, she pressed the button around seven times during the course of 21 hours.
She told the court that she didn’t know why the staff didn’t respond to her calls.
After reaching the nurses’ desk, she informed them about her daughter’s condition and the lack of response.
According to Ms. Tarapureddi, one of the nurses said she had to wait because the other staff members were talking.
A nurse then arrived around 20 minutes later. A few hours later, the girl started struggling with breathlessness, and a doctor said that her condition was due to her lack of food.
Ms. Tarapureddi then noticed her daughter’s pulse rate, which had gone up to over 200 beats per minute, in the early hours of the following day.
She said that the emergency department’s registrar, Patrick Tan, told her that the machine was not working properly.
Amrita continued to have pain, and an electrocardiogram was then performed to check her heart’s electrical signals. However, despite the abnormalities, Dr. Tan still gave her the report.
Amrita’s heart stopped for around two minutes before it was revived. She then died while she was waiting to be transferred to a children’s hospital.
Her mother said that the hospital’s staff members had ignored her daughter.
On Monday, Dr. Tan admitted that there were various issues with the care of Amrita.
He noted that during that night, he received 18 patients, which is more than the usual 10. He also said that he did not appreciate how serious the girl’s illness was.
After assessing Amrita’s heart report, Dr. Tan noted that it wasn’t a major issue.
However, he said that he didn’t understand the interpretation of the report at the time.
He added that it was a challenging role for him due to his lack of experience in emergency medicine.
He started his shift at midnight, but he was not able to visit Amrita for three more hours.
According to him, he was not informed about the severity of her illness.
The lawyers for the hospital noted that the staff members did not appreciate the seriousness of her condition.
They also noted that her blood pressure should have also been monitored regularly.