Parents of youngest Qld death say hospital should have done more to save him
The parents of a 28-year-old man who died with Covid-19 shortly after being discharged from a Queensland hospital have filed a formal complaint, saying more could have been done to save him, including use of a rapid antigen test to reveal he had coronavirus.
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The parents of Queensland’s youngest Covid-19 victim have lodged a formal complaint against a southeast Queensland hospital, claiming its emergency department could have done more to save their Covid-positive son.
Lachlan Moore, 28, suffered a brain bleed and died in his sleep just hours after he was released from Redcliffe hospital.
Lachlan was born with the neurodevelopmental condition Angelman syndrome, cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
His death was included in numbers released by the State Government at the weekend.
Parents Megan and Ron Moore claimed to the ABC the Redcliffe Hospital doctor who examined Lachlan did not spend “any significant time” with him before sending him home with a prescription for antibiotics to treat a chest infection.
Ms Moore argues more time and care should have been offered to her son due to his disabilities, which categorised him as an “at risk” patient.
Lachlan was not able to verbalise his symptoms.
She also claims staff denied her request to provide Lachlan with a Rapid Antigen Test, instead giving him a PCR test which would not offer immediate results, despite paramedics presenting Lachlan to Redcliffe Hospital as a possible Covid case.
“I would like to see, especially for people who are non-verbal, that there’s extra care taken,” Ms Moore told the ABC.
“Take that extra test, take that extra time, take the time to examine him properly.
“Don’t just come in and discuss the symptoms with me and then walk back out again because you’re understaffed.”
By the time Mr and Mrs Moore received Lachlan’s positive PCR test result, he was already dead.
A coroner found Lachlan died after suffering a subarachnoid haemorrhage (brain bleed) as a result of his medical conditions, but Mr Moore said Covid was “the sail that drove it.”
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath offered her sympathies to the family in a statement released last night.
“We offer them our condolences,” Ms D’Ath said.
Queensland Health is yet to comment.
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