St Basil’s inquest: Woman says dad became ‘breathing skeleton’ while mother was ‘dosed on antipsychotics’

A woman whose parents died from Covid says her father became a ‘breathing skeleton’ after he wasn’t fed while her mother was ‘dosed on antipsychotics’.

Jakov Pucar, who passed away due to Covid-19, was a St Basil’s resident. Picture: Facebook

A woman whose parents died after contracting Covid-19 at St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Melbourne’s north says her father became a “breathing skeleton” after he wasn’t fed while her mother was “dosed on antipsychotics”, an inquest has heard.

Branka Lyons became tearful on Wednesday as she recalled her parents’ last moments and the chaos that ensued after all staff were stood down in a bid to contain an escalating Covid outbreak at the Fawkner facility in July 2020.

“I’ve got my mum and dad beside me, I’m doing this for them,” she said.

Ms Lyons said her father Jakov Pucar, 90, could only eat pureed or minced foods and became like a ‘breathing skeleton’ before he was hospitalised only to be diagnosed with Covid-19 a day later.

“I don’t think my dad had anything to eat the whole time they were there … he was a skeleton.”

Ms Lyons said her dad was given morphine against her wishes, which she said may have hastened his decline.

She said replacement worker Robert McDougall from employment agency E4 comforted her mother when her father was taken to the Northern Hospital in Epping, saying the 82-year-old “cried her heart out, she was heartbroken”.

Audio of a phone call between Ms Lyons and Mr McDougall was played to Victoria’s Coroner’s Court, where the aged care worker told the woman he had discovered three to four uneaten trays of food in each resident’s room as well as soiled bedding.

“I’ve spoken to the department of health to please shut this place down,” said Mr McDougall.

“I’ve shown them what I’ve seen and I can‘t believe it … I discovered an infection because people aren’t changing them properly.”

It is unclear if Mr McDougall is referring to the Victorian or commonwealth health department, which regulates the private aged care sector.

It is understood commonwealth authorities were blindsided by the decision to stand down all staff on July 22 and found themselves battling the near collapse of the Victorian health system amid the state’s second wave.

Slavka Pucar. Picture: Facebook

Ms McDougall recounted how she heard replacement staff barge into her mother’s room at the Fawkner facility while she was speaking with her, with the phone left off the hook as the worker repeatedly and aggressively asked her mother their name.

“They spoke to her harshly and abruptly, it broke my heart,” she said.

Ms Lyons said she asked for mother to be taken to the Northern Hospital with her father as they had been married for 64-years.

She said her mother was instead taken to Wantirna Health, about a 50-minute drive from the Northern, where she was given a “cocktail of drugs” and “dosed on antipsychotics and antibiotics”.

“My main concern was the antipsychotics because my mother was not psychotic, she needed comfort and care and someone to talk to her gently and reassure her,” said Ms Lyons.

“She didn’t get that.”

Ms Lyons said she didn’t receive a phone call from Wantirna Health before her mother’s death, seeing her robbed of the opportunity to be by her side when she passed.

“Our elderly deserve better than this,” she said.

An independent review of major Covid outbreaks in aged care facilities found that testing and contact tracing delays “often impeded effective responses to and control of Covid-19 outbreaks”, something which has improved with the establishment of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.