Inquest into the death of Jenissa Ryan

14y · Female·blunt force head injury

A 14-year-old Aboriginal girl with newly diagnosed idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and critically low platelet count (5,000/mm³) absconded from Alice Springs Hospital on 27 January 2006. Hospital staff failed to comply with existing policy requiring immediate police notification for absconding minors. Police were not contacted until 24 hours later. The deceased was assaulted while absent and suffered a subdural haemorrhage from blunt head trauma, exacerbated by her severe thrombocytopenia. She died on 29 January 2006. Key failures included: inadequate handover communication between shifts, lack of awareness/compliance with hospital policy, delayed notification of guardians, poor documentation of actions taken, and failure to escalate appropriately. While the coroner could not definitively establish that policy compliance would have prevented death, the systemic failures in managing an absconding minor with life-threatening condition were substantial.