Inquest into the death of Thea Flaskett
Deceased
Thea Flaskett
Demographics
<1y, female
Date of death
2023-09-11
Finding date
2026-07-17
Cause of death
Transposition of the Great Arteries
AI-generated summary
Thea Flaskett was born at Redcliffe Hospital on 11 September 2023 with undiagnosed transposition of the great arteries (TGA), a critical congenital heart defect requiring urgent diagnosis and specialist intervention. She died approximately four hours later. Antenatal TGA detection rates remain suboptimal (35–50% internationally, 64% in Queensland), despite imaging advances. The 20-week morphology scan was performed to guideline standards by experienced sonographers but missed TGA; the coroner found no fault with imaging staff. Thea had complicating factors (reduced shunting, possibly pulmonary hypertension) that would have compromised survival even in a tertiary centre. Post-delivery resuscitation was provided to an excellent standard, but Redcliffe Hospital lacks emergency cardiac intervention facilities necessary for TGA management. The coroner concluded the death was not preventable given non-detection, though antenatal diagnosis would probably have enabled survival.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- reduced shunting (restrictive foramen ovale)
- pulmonary hypertension (possible)
Coroner's recommendations
- MNHHS and NeoRESQ should review live-streaming technology used in NSW public hospitals' paediatric resuscitation bays (such as Vision for Life) to improve visualisation of patients and attending staff, and enable oral communication with retrievalists
- NeoRESQ and MNHHS should review the NSW neonatal retrieval service intake form to identify potential improvements to Queensland's form
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