Deceased
WINIFRED JEAN MORFFEW
Demographics
88y, female
Coroner
Coroner Audrey Jamieson
Date of death
2018-01-07
Finding date
2018-10-31
Cause of death
Complications of a pedestrian accident including subarachnoid haemorrhage, subdural haemorrhage and fractured humerus
AI-generated summary
An 88-year-old woman with multiple comorbidities (diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy) was struck by a reversing vehicle at low speed, sustaining subarachnoid haemorrhage, subdural haemorrhage, and fractured humerus. She was initially managed conservatively at Ballarat Base Hospital with neurosurgery consultation. Subsequently she developed acute delirium, a large bowel obstruction, and NSTEMI. She was transferred to a rehabilitation facility then back to acute care, eventually transferred to a rural hospital for palliative care where she died. Medical care provided was deemed appropriate. However, the coroner identified a significant system failure: neither hospital recognised the obligation to report this death to the coroners court—it was only detected through routine auditing by the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. The coroner recommended both hospitals implement training on reportable death notification obligations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Clinical conditions
Procedures
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An 87-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease sustained an unwitnessed fall at a residential aged care facility, resulting in head injuries and a hip fracture. Critical clinical lessons emerged: (1) neurological observat…
47y · Male·Acute myocardial infarction due to thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary ar…
Nick Panagiotopoulos, a 47-year-old man, suffered a fatal acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) on 16 October 2021 at home in Preston, Victoria. His family made five calls to Triple Zero (000) requesting emergency a…
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