Finding into death of Carol Austin
Deceased
Carol Austin
Demographics
65y, female
Date of death
2018-08-27
Finding date
2022-05-03
Cause of death
Plastic bag asphyxia
AI-generated summary
Carol Austin, 65, died by plastic bag asphyxia at her home in Wangaratta in August 2018. She had a 20-year history of depression and had recently experienced suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, and burns injury requiring hospitalization. She was admitted to Kerford Unit psychiatric inpatient service and discharged after reporting improvement. However, she remained inadequately engaged with outpatient psychology services due to limited local access to private psychologists and extensive waiting lists. The coroner found the mental health care provided was appropriate and contemporary, but identified a systemic prevention opportunity: lack of timely access to psychological therapy in regional Victoria. The death highlights challenges in the Better Access Initiative for rural areas where private mental health practitioners are scarce, and how restricted eligibility for telehealth services limits alternatives to crisis-focused tertiary care.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- major depression with recurrent suicidal ideation
- limited access to private psychologists in regional area
- extensive waiting lists for psychology services
- financial stressors limiting ability to pay for private psychology
- insufficient employment and recent arrival to area limiting support networks
- patient reluctance to engage with available mental health services
- discharge to home environment without family supervision after hospitalization
- restriction of Better Access Telehealth services to Wangaratta based on Modified Monash Model rating
Coroner's recommendations
- Extend eligibility for access to Better Access Telehealth Services for people in rural and remote areas to include those areas with combined ratings of MM3, a district of workforce shortage for psychiatry, and a distribution priority area for general practitioners, rather than limiting access solely based on Modified Monash Model ratings
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