Chronic staffing issues still plaguing hospital that discharged toddler who died

An emergency doctor says he is kept up at night by unacceptable waiting times and lack of senior staff still affecting patient safety at his regional hospital after the death of a toddler.

Doug Devereux, a senior medical officer in the Wangaratta hospital emergency department, said chronic understaffing meant staff were often unable to use extra beds during peak times and sick patients were often stuck waiting in the emergency department for hours.

Wangaratta emergency department’s Dr Doug Devereux leaves the inquest into the death of 19-month old Noah Souvatzis.Credit: Darrian Traynor

The doctor said these issues had persisted despite a review of Wangaratta hospital after the death of 19-month-old toddler Noah Souvatzis, who was sent home from the emergency department while still unwell in December 2021. The boy died days later.

“This keeps me up all night regularly,” Devereux told a Coroner’s Court inquest on Wednesday.

“I am desperately keen to minimise cases like this in the future,” he said.

A coroner is investigating the medical care Noah received to see if his death could have been prevented.

Noah’s parents, Ben and Steph Souvatzis, had been holidaying in the Myrtleford area when, they said, they were forced to take their increasingly unwell son to a string of regional health services only to be mostly turned away.

After first reaching the Alpine Health Care Centre in Myrtleford about 2.30pm on December 29, 2021, the family were sent to the Wangaratta emergency department, arriving about 3.45pm. Noah was discharged about 7.20pm in what Ben Souvatzis said was a sicker state than when he had arrived.

Noah’s parents later visited Benalla Urgent Care before Noah was returned to Wangaratta hospital hours later. The boy was later flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital, where he died with bacterial meningitis on December 31, 2021.

The doctor who treated Noah at Benalla Urgent Care about two hours after he was discharged from the emergency department said the toddler was in a critical condition when he arrived.

Grace Elizabeth Reynolds, who was an on-call doctor on the evening of December 29, told the inquest on Wednesday that Noah was so dehydrated, she immediately started intravenous fluids and called for paramedics.

But even as the paramedics arrived, Noah continued to deteriorate, Reynolds said.

“He was floppy, making minimal movement of limbs,” she said. “I knew he was very, very sick and he needed more treatment than I could provide.”

The inquest continues.

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