Ipswich Hospital allegedly bungled treatment of toddler

A Queensland toddler suffers from nightmares and is “terrified” of doctors after having his toe amputated, with his furious parents accusing a hospital of “trying to cover up a series of mistakes”.

A traumatised toddler is lucky to be alive after an alleged bungle by Ipswich Hospital left him with sepsis, resulting in an amputation.

The parents of Manasseh ‘Nas’ Vui are furious at the treatment they say their oldest child received, and have accused the public hospital of “trying to cover up a series of mistakes”.

Wayne Vui said his son had endured immense, unnecessary pain and after losing his toe had constant nightmares and was “terrified of doctors”.

The once gregarious boy had become withdrawn and frequently aggressive despite his parents’ reassurance the amputation saved his life.

Manasseh Vui dropped a 10kg weight on his toe and had it amputated six days later. Picture: Jamie Hanson

Mr Vui, of Mount Marrow, has taken his son’s case to the Queensland Ombudsman after receiving a “pathetic” response from Ipswich Hospital which he said told him the staff did everything right.

“If they’d shown proper care and thoroughly examined his toe, he’d still have it, and not be traumatised,” he said.

“I know it’s just a toe, but he could have died from blood poisoning.”

On October 18, 2021, Mr Vui took Nas to the emergency ward within an hour of the child accidentally dropping a 10kg weight on his foot, which was bleeding and horribly swollen.

“We waited from 6pm to 9pm for an Xray, which showed the toe was broken, then my son was discharged at 11pm, with a doctor saying the cuts didn’t need stitching,” he said.

Manasseh Vui got sepsis after the injury. Picture Supplied

The boy’s toe had to be amputated. Picture: Jamie Hanson

Mr Vui said at no time did hospital staff check blood flow to the toe or if an infection had occurred, and the child was prescribed antibiotics.

“By day four, the toe was black so we went back to Ipswich Hospital where staff missed putting a cannula in Nas’s arm six times, which was additionally traumatic for him.

“The doctors there were in constant contact with Queensland Children’s Hospital, which advised them to check blood flow, and after looking at pictures of the toe that it might need amputation.”

Nas was transferred to Queensland Children’s Hospital and kept on intravenous antibiotics for 48 hours, but on October 24 his toe was removed.

The following day, Mr Vui filed a complaint with Ipswich Hospital and the Queensland Ombudsman.

On November 3, Mr Vui said he received a call from a hospital liaison officer stating “their actions were justified and essentially their report found no fault with their processing”.

“They said someone from the fracture clinic called us, no one did; that a referral was sent to our GP to follow up, which didn’t happen; and that they did all they could and it wasn’t preventable.

“So a broken toe and a cut? I might as well tell everyone with a broken limb that their limb is going to be amputated,” he said.

Mr Vui said an orthopaedic surgeon at Queensland Children’s Hospital told him Ipswich Hospital staff admitted they “had not done sufficient checks”.

“He went on to say they ‘did not want blood on their hands’ as the injury was now life threatening.”

The Vui family had two bad experiences at Ipswich Hospital within days. Picture: Jamie Hanson

For the Vui family, Nas’s ordeal was the second dissatisfactory experience at Ipswich Hospital.

The day before Nas’s accident, Mr Vui’s wife Emma went into labour with their third child.

The couple presented to the hospital twice on October 17 but were told to go home.

Two hours after their last visit, little Odessa was born, in the bedroom of their home.

“I know hospitals are short-staffed but we pay taxes and deserve decent health care,” Mr Vui said.

“They’re meant to be the professionals we trust with our lives.”

Mr Vui followed up with the office of the Queensland Ombudsman on Thursday and was told it was waiting on a formal response from Ipswich Hospital before ruling on the case.

West Moreton Health chief executive Kerrie Freeman said she was “very sorry to hear one of our patients has had a difficult time”.

“We take all safety and quality of service issues very seriously and work directly with families to investigate and respond to concerns,” Ms Freeman said.

“While we do not comment on specific issues to respect patient privacy, we are always happy to work directly with people on issues of concern.

“We can confirm that this case is the subject of an OHO process, which we are responding to.”