Latest news with #JoondalupHealthCampus
ABC News
22-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Sandipan Dhar's father says family was 'betrayed' by Joondalup Health Campus in days before his death
A coronial inquest into the death of a toddler at a Perth hospital has ended with emotional testimony from the boy's father, who said Joondalup Health Campus "destroyed our life". Sandipan Dhar died at the hospital on March 24 last year. His parents brought their 21-month-old son to the emergency department on March 22, after he had been feverish for weeks. A GP sent the family to the emergency department with a letter requesting Sandipan get blood tests, among other examinations. But the Dhar family left hospital that night without staff taking Sandipan's blood. He died when they returned to hospital two days later. An autopsy revealed the boy had undiagnosed acute leukaemia. The coronial inquest has been called to determine whether Sandipan's life may have been saved if his bloods were taken on March 22. After listening in court for three days, Sandipan's father, Sanjoy Dhar, chose to take the stand in an emotional testimony. Mr Dhar asked to take the oath in his son's name while his pictures were exhibited behind him. "I've been waiting for this day for [a] long time," he told the court. He said his family did not want to see anyone sent to prison over the incident. But Mr Dhar told the court he cannot accept that he and his family "left the ED without having [the doctor's] concern". "I went there straight from the GP," he said. "Sandipan was not taken care [of] properly on Friday night. "As a family, we consider we have been betrayed. Mr Dhar made it clear the actions of the staff when the family returned two nights later were not the issue, because he accepted it was too late by then. The lawyer representing Joondalup Health Campus staff, Grant Donaldson SC, took the opportunity to tell Mr Dhar that it was very common two people recall a moment or conversation differently. "It doesn't mean one person is lying and one person is not lying," he told the court. "Hopefully, you will be able to accept that some people have honestly and genuinely a different recollection of some of these matters. "I would urge you to try and understand that if you are able to." The lawyer representing the Dhar family told the court, according to Mr Dhar's evidence, the final words senior ED consultant Dr Yii Siow said when they left the hospital that night were: "Your son is beautiful, take him home, there is nothing wrong with him." "Did you say that?" Counsel Piet Jarmen asked Dr Siow. "No," Dr Siow told the court. She told the court she was not concerned when the family left hospital because Sandipan "looked well" and she was confident he had viral tonsillitis. "[I] just thought it would be fine," Dr Siow told the court. The court heard Dr Siow and the family planned to do a urine test to rule out a urinary tract infection and assumed they may return the following day to complete it. She told the court she did not get the impression Sandipan's condition was more serious. When the family did return two days later, Sandipan's health had drastically declined. A checklist of symptoms and notes were read out to the junior ED doctor, Caolan O'Hearrain, and his senior consultant, Dr Siow, relating to Sandipan's condition on March 22. The court heard the family told Dr O'Hearrain they had come to the ED because their GP wanted Sandipan to get a blood test. When Dr O'Hearrain was asked if he relayed that information to Dr Siow, he told the court "I believe I did but I can't 100 per cent confirm". But Dr Siow told the court she did not receive that vital note. Of the 14 notes, Dr Siow told the court she could only confidently recall hearing two during her handover with Dr O'Hearrain. The thought of doing a blood test did cross her mind, but the court heard she wanted to receive the urine test results first. Dr Siow also told the court she did not read the letter from the GP, which in hindsight she accepted would have been "ideal".
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Sandipan Dhar's father accuses Joondalup Health Campus doctors of lies over toddler's death
The father of a toddler who died at a Perth hospital after presenting to the emergency department two days earlier has walked out of a coronial inquest into his son's death, accusing medical staff of lying in their evidence. Sandipan Dhar was 21 months old when he died at Joondalup Health Campus on March 24 last year. An autopsy later revealed he died due to complications from undiagnosed leukaemia. Sandipan's father Sanjoy Dhar left the court as hospital doctor Dr Yii Siow was giving evidence. 'I cannot take anymore lies,' he told the court. 'I am just exiting myself. 'It's too much for me to take.' The WA Coroner's Court inquest is trying to discern whether blood tests could have detected the blood disease earlier and spared Sandipan's life. Sandipan had a fever for about three weeks after he received routine vaccinations. One GP told the court on the first day of the inquest he 'just couldn't ignore the parental concern' and sent the family to Joondalup Hospital with a letter requesting blood tests on March 22. His parents took Sandipan to the ED that day but left the hospital after about five hours, without his bloods being taken. Sandipan was brought back two days later and died that evening. The allocated nurse and junior doctor on duty told the inquest on Tuesday they didn't recall Saraswati and Sanjoy Dhar insisting on blood tests. Dr O'Hearrain told the court on Wednesday he also did not remember Mr Dhar asking for the blood tests, referring to Sandipan's parents as 'very reasonable' and 'patient.' Coroner Sarah Linton suggested cultural differences could have influenced the degree of concern expressed by the parents. 'There certainly seems to be disconnect between how concerned they say they were … and how they seemed to you,' she told Dr Caolan O'Hearrain incourt. Mr Dhar said he did not know he had to demand his child's needs in a specific way. 'We've been polite. We didn't consider to raise our voice because other patients are in the other beds,' he said outside court. Mr Dhar said he asked Dr O'Hearrain 'minimum, three times' to ask Dr Siow, to take a blood test. Dr Siow told the court Sandipan looked well and his parents were calm on March 22. 'They appeared really calm and relaxed to me. I didn't think there was a heightened level of concern,' she told the court. Dr Siow told the court she and the family even joked at one point about mothers always being right. She said the family did not ask for a blood test and if they had insisted on one, it would have been an 'easy decision' to complete it. The court heard there was conflicting evidence on whether the family were told to leave the ED on March 22, or whether they left of their own accord. Mr Dhar said outside court Dr Siow had asked the family to leave, but she was not questioned on that on Wednesday. She will continue to be questioned on Thursday, when the inquest continues.
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Sandipan Dhar inquest probes whether timely blood test could have prevented toddler's death
A hospital nurse and junior doctor tasked with treating a Perth toddler who died from an undiagnosed form of leukaemia say they can't remember his distressed parents insisting on a blood test. At the heart of a coronial inquest into the death of Sandipan Dhar is the question of whether a blood test could have indeed prevented his death. The 21-month old died at Joondalup Health Campus in March 2024, with a post-mortem revealing he had acute blastoma leukaemia. He had been taken to the hospital's emergency department twice after suffering a persistent fever for several weeks, following routine vaccinations. Sandipan's parents said they requested blood tests on the first occasion, and had a referral from a GP, but claimed they were not listened to. Coroner Sarah Linton is presiding over the inquest and said the court would probe whether a full blood test during Sandipan's first ED visit might have flagged his blood disease and saved his life. After their first visit, the family went home with their child but his condition deteriorated and they returned two days later on March 24 . Sandipan died that evening. The court heard in the opening address there was conflicting evidence as to whether the family chose to leave the ED against advice or were told they could leave. Carlo Rocchiccioloi was the allocated nurse on the first ED visit and told the court Sandipan looked well. The court heard Mr Rocchiccioloi did not make a note of a request from the family for blood tests. "I would document it in the notes if it was a repeated or insistent request perhaps," he told the court. Dr Caolan O'Hearrain, who was the junior doctor on duty, told the court blood tests were mentioned in relation to the letter from the GP, but the requests were not insistent. "They [had] gone to their GP a few times and their GP had sent them in looking to get bloods done," he told the court. Alarm bells didn't sound for Dr O'Hearrain because he said Sandipan's fever was not constant. He said he was reassured by the fact the toddler's temperature and heart rate had come down. Meanwhile, Dr Sanjeev Rana from the Key Largo Medical Centre assessed Sandipan twice before he died, once on March 20 and again on March 22. Dr Rana initially diagnosed Sandipan with tonsillitis and prescribed him antibiotics, but advised his parents to come back in two days given his fever since his immunisations. During the second appointment it became clear that Sandipan was not responding to the medication and his fever persisted. "I wasn't sure about my diagnosis, I wasn't sure about what was going on," Dr Rana told the court. "This is a kid with a fever for three weeks. "On that day he had a temperature of 38.3C and he looked miserable. "I just couldn't ignore the parental concern." He wrote a letter for the parents to take to hospital requesting a blood test and further examination. But the court heard Sandipan's deterioration "could not be reversed" when they presented to the Joondalup ED. Only Sandipan's father, Sanjoy Dhar, was in court on Tuesday. Coroner Linton gave her condolences to Sandipan's mother, Saraswati, as did three doctors who assessed Sandipan at the medical centre in the days and weeks leading up to his death. However, Mr Dhar only accepted one of the doctors' condolences. "These are by force … I should have heard it one year prior, not today," he said outside court. "I only can accept the apology from Dr Rana because I can see that it came from his heart. The rest I don't." The inquest continues.
