A devastated doctor who discharged a seriously ill boy from hospital, resulting in his death, has revealed what went wrong.
Doctor Paul Nicholas Bumford told the coroner at the inquest investigating the death of 19-month-old Noah Souvatzis that he believed the boy had gastroenteritis when he examined him at Wangaratta Hospital on December 29, 2021.
Dr Bumford, who was on his first locum shift at Victoria Regional Hospital, discharged little Noah just three and a half hours later. But the boy and his parents returned shortly after when his condition worsened dramatically.
Noah was then flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital and, at 3.11pm on December 30, the boy was declared brain dead.
His life support was turned off on December 31, after the boy’s organs were donated.
Dr Paul Nicholas Bumford (pictured) was on his first shift as a locum at Victoria Regional Hospital the day Noah arrived at the emergency room.
Even though Noah Souvatzis (pictured in the hospital with his father Ben) vomited during his discharge from the hospital, he was sent home. The little boy’s condition worsened and his parents brought him back hours later.
Dr Paul Nicholas Bumford (pictured leaving the inquest into the death of Noah Souvatzis on Tuesday) told the coroner in retrospect that he wished he had consulted a more experienced doctor.
Dr. Bumford told the coroner on Tuesday that, in retrospect, he wishes he had asked a more experienced doctor to evaluate Noah. Age reported.
She also said she wished she had done more checks and referred Noah to the pediatric team to keep him under observation longer.
‘Given that his condition had improved, I felt it was reasonable to discharge him. I am devastated by [the] result,” said Dr. Bumford.
The Coroner’s Court heard from other witnesses who said Wangaratta Hospital had chronic staff shortages, long waiting times for ambulances, internal conflicts and that its employees lacked experience and seniority.
At the time Covid restrictions were in place in some parts of Victoria, which also added to the strain on the health sector.
The triage nurse Read moreland had tears in her eyes as she told the coroner: “It was quite horrendous.”
“I still remember that day,” he said.
Noah Souvatzis (pictured) was declared brain dead and had his organs donated
The Souvatzis family (pictured) were on holiday in regional Victoria when 19-month-old Noah fell ill.
The nurse said the days leading up to Noah’s arrival were a “shit storm” and recalled texting others with her concern.
“I don’t know if we’re all going to survive… for the next few weeks or months.”
Moreland told the inquest that while everything at the hospital had been controlled during the closures, once everything opened again no additional resources had been provided to help with the extra workload of tourists.
The triage nurse also said it had become common to hear about patients who had tried to get an ambulance but were told it would be quicker to get there themselves, which is what happened in Noah’s case.
Morehead described ambulance waiting times as “terrifying” for patients and “sometimes for us.”
The boy’s parents, Ben and Steph Souvatzis, had been on holiday in the area and previously told the coroner that they were forced to repeatedly take their increasingly ill child to different health services and were mostly Rejected.
A triage nurse described Wangaratta Hospital (pictured) as understaffed at the time and a ‘shit storm’ in the days before Noah arrived at the emergency department.
The family first arrived at Alpine Health Care Center in Myrtleford around 2:30 p.m., but were sent to Wangaratta’s emergency department, where they arrived around 3:45 p.m.
They were then discharged from Wangaratta about 7.20pm, and Ben Souvatzis told the inquest that Noah was a sicker child than when they arrived.
Mr Souvatzis had recalled in court that panic and disagreements among staff were rife as he cared for a semi-conscious Noah in the emergency department waiting line.