The state coroner’s court is investigating allegations involving a 55-year-old patient at Rockingham General Hospital, who was moved from a ward to the morgue on Sept. 5 without his death formally certified.
A doctor raised the alarm about the man’s condition after being asked the next day to confirm the death and retroactively date the statement.
In a report to the coroner, the doctor claimed the patient’s eyes were open, two limbs had shifted position, and there was blood on his hospital gown.
“I believe the frank blood from a new skin tear, arm position and eye marks were inconsistent with a person who was postmortem upon arrival at the morgue,” the doctor wrote, according to a Business News report.
The doctor, who has since left the hospital, claims that the authorities have covered up the incident.
The South Metropolitan Health Service has launched an investigation and the WA Corruption and Crime Commission is also investigating the incident.
Health chief Paul Forden said on Thursday that an experienced nurse examined the man on Sept. 5 and found no sign of life.
But no attending physicians were available to certify the death as required.
Mr Forden said he had spoken to clinicians who believed the signs identified by the doctor in the morgue were “not unusual”.
“The doctor was asked to consider whether they would be willing to equate the time of death with the day before, when the nurse diagnosed the death. The doctor declined to do so,” Mr. Forden told reporters.
“The doctor has appropriately raised some concerns with the coroner’s office. I would not try to suppress anyone in the medical field who expressed concern.
“The investigation is about the protocols after the patient’s death, not whether that patient has died.”
The chairman of the Australian Medical Association WA, Mark Duncan-Smith, said the doctor had acted with integrity.
“I’ve never heard of a certificate of extinction being requested to be retroactively dated,” he said.
“If that is indeed what happened, I would also suggest that a reference to the CCC would be appropriate.”
Health Secretary Amber-Jade Sanderson said she was seeking answers about the incident.
“I am concerned about these serious allegations and have requested an urgent briefing from South Metro Health Service (SMHS), which has advised that an investigation is underway,” she said in a statement.
“SMHS is in contact with the patient’s family. In the interest of all employees involved and especially the family, it is important that we let the investigation, and any external investigation, run its course.”
Opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam said the allegations were deeply disturbing and warranted a thorough and transparent investigation.