Family makes stunning claim against hospital
‘By the time I got there, my mother was a nervous wreck’
A FAMILY has h made d stunning claims about Townsville University Hospital in the wake of the alleged killing of Vietnam veteran Vincent O’keefe.
The family alleged that the family matriarch, 89, had a run in with the same dementia patient at the centre of the investigation into the death of Mr O’keefe on October 26.
“If they took our concerns when we brought them up a week before Mr O’keefe’s death, that gentleman could possibly still be alive today,” the family said.
The family, who wish to remain anonymous, said the Townsville woman was placed in the Ward Five dementia unit on Tuesday, October 18 — one week before the man was attacked and later died.
“Within 10 minutes of being in bed, that gentleman was in my mum’s room trying to get into bed with my mum,” the woman’s daughter said.
The woman, 59, said TUH nurses were forced to remove the man, also understood to be a former military serviceman, on at least two more occasions in an hour.
“I was warned by (a person at the hospital) to keep my mother’s door locked ... and I was told ‘do not touch him under any circumstances, call the nurses’.”
She said another patient, a woman, was also in and out of her mother’s room but it was the man, also in his 70s, “who was the real concern”.
The woman said the family eventually left the hospital but b said id she h was so concerned d about her mother that she returned within two hours.
“By the time I got there, my mother was a nervous wreck begging us to take her out of the hospital, she’s not safe, she told me that the gentleman kept getting into her bed – he closed himself in there and locked the door at one e stage.”
She said d that despite the arrival of her son, , the man’s behaviour of entering the room con- tinued unnabated for another 45 5 minutes.
So bad was the situation, the woman said she called her sister who arrived to help transfer their mother to Mater Hospital Townsville but alleged the family were prevented from leaving.
“The three of us were locked in that ward, the nurses would not unlock the door so we could take mum out of there.”
The woman said they were trapped in the ward for more than 10 minutes before the doors were unlocked when a doctor arrived.
She said that despite repeated requests the nurses would not provide her weak and frail mother with a wheelchair, eventually providing her with a mobility walker.
“She got out the front of the hospital, the wheels collapsed on the wheelie-walker, my mum fell out and ended up with multiple spinal fractures at 89years-of-age.”
The woman said much of the ordeal had been captured on video.
She also alleged her mother was forced to wait 20 hours in the Emergency Department for an X-ray.
“She was begging, begging – I’ve got video of that as well – my mum begging for painkillers, that the pain in her back was excruciating and then begging us to take her out of the hospital because they don’t care, they won’t give her medication.”
The woman, a carer for her mother who lives with a sister, said the ordeal had changed her mother.
“My mum, coming out of that hospital, is terrified of everything, she sleeps with three lights on … she has to have her bedroom door open at all times,” she said.
“She is a nervous wreck, her anxiety has gone through the roof, she has no quality of life whatsoever, my mum is sleeping 22 hours a day; before going to that hospital she was mobile, she was visiting friends, going to doctor’s appointments, she is a nervous wreck.”
Queensland Police Service has previously confirmed that it is investigating the circumstances surrounding Mr O’keefe’s death but that it is unable to comment further.
In a major bombshell on Wednesday evening, THHS CEO Kieran Keyes announced a “comprehensive investigation to understand what happened and what learnings or actions may result from this tragic incident involving two patients at our hospital”.
“This will include input from external experts,” he said.
“The investigation will also consider any related incidents involving other patients.”
Mr Keyes said he expected wider recommendations about “challenges for care of the elderly, especially those in an acute-care setting, to form part of the findings”.
“I have fully briefed the health service Board which has formally supported this investigation and the involvement of experts independent of our health service,” he said.
“We engage with families on matters of concern, and I’d encourage anyone in our community to raise these with the treating teams caring for their family member or relative.”
Mr Keyes said it was important that the investigation be allowed to run its course.
“The matter is also currently with the Queensland Police Service and the Coroner and, at this stage, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further,” he said. “Again, I extend my sincere sympathies to the family who have lost someone they loved and want to reassure them of our commitment to finding answers.”