Inquest into the Death of Bert Sharpe

58y · Male·Gastrointestinal haemorrhage due to erosive gastritis

Bert Sharpe, aged 58, died from gastrointestinal haemorrhage due to erosive gastritis at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on 19 April 2004. He had been an involuntary psychiatric patient at Graylands Hospital since 1992, following a severe head injury sustained in a motor vehicle accident in 1970. This injury caused chronic brain damage and progressive mental health deterioration requiring lifelong institutional care. In April 2004, he was admitted to hospital with a chest wall haematoma requiring surgical evacuation. Post-operatively, he developed vomiting of coffee-ground material, aspiration, and acute gastrointestinal bleeding. Resuscitation was deemed inappropriate given his massive aspiration and poor prognosis. The coroner found death arose from natural causes and that supervision, treatment, and care were adequate to his circumstances, with no preventable management options available.