Daughter of Pietro De Cicco, who died at Oakden nursing home in 2014 wants full coronial investigation
A DAUGHTER of a man who died from a suspicious head wound at the Oakden aged care facility in 2014 fear foul play and has written to the Coroner seeking a full investigation.
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A DAUGHTER of a man who died from a suspicious head wound at the Oakden aged care facility in 2014 fear foul play and has written to the Coroner seeking a full investigation.
Patrina Cole has told The Advertiser she held grave concerns at the time but felt helpless in challenging the State Government and was discouraged from taking any further action.
In the wake of the Chief Psychiatrist Aaron Groves’ scathing Oakden report, Ms Cole has now written to Coroner Mark Johns seeking a probe and detailed her concerns in a police statement.
“I had suspicions from day one,” she said.
“Since all of this about Oakden came into the media a few weeks ago, immediately I thought ‘I was right’, but we had nothing to go on at the time.
“I feel so stupid now. “I wish I had done something back then, but against who?
“It would have just been us going up against the Government, and everything they have.”
Ms Cole’s father Pietro De Cicco died on November 14, 2014 from a cerebral haemorrhage that staff said was sustained in a fall.
Ms Cole says her father rapidly deteriorated during his year at the site, with rapid weight loss from 60kg to 47kg under the effects of heavy medication.
The death occurred just a month before Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister Leesa Vlahos received and dismissed a letter from federal Labor MP Tony Zappia which raised a constituent’s fears that “there is a high risk of severe injury or death at the facility”.
Ms Cole said Oakden staff called her on the morning of the death to advise that there had been an incident but was led to believe the injury was not serious.
Mr De Cicco soon died.
“They just spoke to me as if it was any other sort of a stumble,” Ms Cole said. “There was no mention of a gash to the head, which was a few centimetres long, and that’s what he died from.
“He might have fallen, but was he pushed? We just don’t know.” “How many other families has this happened to where maybe there are suspicious circumstances?”
Ms Cole said no autopsy was conducted at the time, nor any other formal investigation.
The family was told Mr De Cicco fell from a chair and injured himself but say suspicions were raised by the fact the injury was to the side of his head rather than the front.
They also doubt Mr De Cicco’s his ability to move from a chair given he was under such heavy medication.
Ms Cole said her father was also extremely fearful of entering the bathroom at Oakden.
“He would go in any other room and have a sticky beak around, people’s rooms or the offices, but not the bathroom. He wouldn’t go near that at all,” she said.
“I found that very strange.”
The family also noticed bruising on Mr De Cicco’s legs in the final weeks before his death, and say frequent complaints about soiled and broken furniture at Oakden went ignored.
The case is one of four that independent Senator Nick Xenophon has raised in writing with the Coroner.
Others include the case of Bob Spriggs, which finally forced the Government to trigger the Chief Psychiatrist’s injury after his family publicly blew the whistle over severe bruising.
Another involves Raymond Seamons, who within four days went from walking and talking to being unable to move and they dying.
The family fear over-medication accelerated his death.
Senator Xenophon said coronial inquiries were needed to smash a culture of cover-up.
“The Government needs to fund these inquests, and has the power to order them,” he said.
“If the Government genuinely wants to prevent another house of horrors, it needs to take action.
“There seems to be no accountability. Everyone just seems to be washing their hands of this.”
The Corner has opened an investigation into the 2008 murder of an Oakden patient, a case dropped by officials after the accused died, and is considering Senator Xenophon’s requests.
A spokeswoman for Mr Johns said the Coroner had jurisdiction over about 150 deaths at Oakden from the past decade and a full review would be a resource-intensive undertaking.
“Many of the files would have been archived, and would need to be retrieved,” she said. “Experience suggests that the coronial files themselves are unlikely to provide sufficient information in each case, so there would be a need to review the files for each of the patients whose death was reported to the Coroner at the time.
“It is not known how many cases are likely to be the subject of further expressions of concern, as this is a developing situation.”
Mr Johns plans to wait until the scope of the Oakden task is clearer before deciding if his office, and those that support it including the police and forensic scientists, need more resources.
A Government spokeswoman said Attorney-General John Rau had already written to Chief Justice Chris Kourakis and outlined the application process for additional funding.
“Treasury has also requested the Courts Administration Authority request and review the costs proposed by the Coroner and advise where those costs cannot be met from existing resources,” the spokeswoman said. “The Coroner has not raised the need for additional resources to investigate these specific (Oakden) cases. “However, the Government will work with the Courts Administration Authority to determine what additional resources may be required.”