Dying man placed in Northern Hospital room with dead patient

THE family of a dying father has slammed a Melbourne hospital for putting him into a room that contained a dead patient. And that’s not where their ordeal ended.

A dying ­father was placed into a “vacant” hospital room that contained a dead patient. Generic picture: iStock

AN INTERNAL investigation has been launched after a dying ­father was placed into a “vacant” hospital room that contained a dead patient.

The heartbroken family of the Kinglake man, who has since died of cancer, has called for Northern Health to improve and enforce its own protocols following an ordeal for which the Northern Hospital in Epping has apologised.

The mourning partner of the man, who did not wish to be identified, claims the 51-year-old’s last 48 hours were made more painful by what she described as unprofessional conduct of staff.

She said her partner in his final hours was moved to a room that contained a deceased patient, as staff within earshot of family discussed a body bag shortage.

The Northern Hospital in Epping has apologised for the incident. Picture: Tim Carrafa

The woman, in a formal written complaint, has also claimed that nurses and doctors were inconsistent with pain-relief administration and management, had underqualified professionals monitoring a palliative patient and observed unprofessional conduct — with one nurse “giggling” when asked for an update.

The grieving 50-year-old said her partner’s body was also left in a distressing state for immediate and extended family to see after he had died, and the room he was in was ­littered with rubbish.

The Herald Sun understands Northern Health is conducting a review in response to formal complaints from the woman and the deceased man’s brother and mother, which is due in September.

“I don’t want other families to have to go through what we went through,” the Kinglake woman said on Monday.

The heartbroken family of a Kinglake man has called for Northern Health to improve and enforce its own protocols. Picture: Tim Carrafa

“I want some sort of guarantee that they are going to enforce their own procedures and protocols because they had all these procedures and protocols in place already. There is clearly a major issue going on there, right down to staffing.

“(My partner) had an untrained nurse with him and they’re saying to us it’s a ‘staffing issue’. “That shouldn’t be happening.

“They need to have a stand-alone palliative care unit, they need to move it away directly from the hospital.”

Northern Health director of public affairs Ryan Brown on Monday said the hospital took all complaints seriously, including that from the patient’s family.

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