Source : Perth Now news
A Sydney nurse has admitted she “played a role” in the death of a two-year-old boy who suffered a cardiac arrest and died hours after he was taken to a hospital by his concerned mother.
The shocking admission was made during the coronial inquest into the death of Joe Massa, who died of bowel-related medical complications hours after he was taken to Northern Beaches Hospital by his mother Elouise in September 2024.
On her second day of giving evidence, triage nurse Hilary O’Neill gave an emotional apology to Joe’s parents, Elouise and Danny, telling the pair she thinks about Joe “every day” and she is now “terrified” of the career she used to love.
“I am so sorry. I am human, and I think about Joseph every day. I feel terrible that I missed his heart rate … I think I played a role, and the system let you down,” she said.
“This is a career I love, and I’m now terrified of it. I hope you get some closure and the answers you need.”
Before making her apology, Ms O’Neill was challenged over her recollection of events by the lawyer representing Healthscope, the private company that formed one half of the public-private partnership with the NSW government in managing Northern Beaches Hospital at the time of Joe’s death.
In evidence given on Monday, Ms O’Neill said the digital systems used by triage nurses to log patient information did not, at the time, feature an alert system when concerning pieces of data were entered.
Ms O’Neill recorded Joe’s heart rate as 182bpm, which places it in what is known as the “red zone”, and on Monday she said other digital systems used in public hospitals would have alerted her by way of a pop-up notification.
On Tuesday, Healthscope lawyer Mr Lloyd said as of September 2024, a “red or pink pop-up” would appear in the middle of the screen, to which Ms O’Neill disagreed.
“You’re mistaken about that,” he said.
Ms Massa took her son to Northern Beaches Hospital just after 7am on Saturday, September 14, 2024
What happened between their arrival in triage at 7am and his cardiac arrest at 10.47am is a major focus of the coronial inquest.
While the exact cause of Joe’s death is still a matter of discussion, it’s believed an abdominal growth thought to have been caused by a build-up of fecal matter within his intestines was a major factor.
A critical misdiagnosis of Joe’s condition – thought at one point to be rudimentary gastroenteritis – will form part of the inquest.
More to come
