A doctor who discharged a severely ill toddler from hospital shortly before he died has spoken of his devastation.
Doctor Paul Nicholas Bumford told an inquest into the death of 19-month-old Noah Souvatzis that he believed the child had gastro when he examined him at Wangaratta hospital on December 29, 2021.
Dr Bumford, who was on his first-ever locum shift at the regional Victorian hospital, discharged little Noah three-and-a-half hours later. But the toddler and his parents returned shortly afterwards, by which point his condition had dramatically worsened.
Noah was then flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital, and at 3.11pm on December 30, the toddler was declared brain dead.
His life support was switched off on December 31, after the toddler’s organs were donated.
Doctor Paul Nicholas Bumford (pictured) was on his first shift as a locum at the regional Victorian hospital the day Noah came into the emergency ward
Despite Noah Souvatzis (pictured in hospital with his dad Ben) vomiting during his discharge from hospital, he was sent home. The toddler’s condition deteriorated and his parents brought him back hours later
Doctor Paul Nicholas Bumford (pictured leaving the inquest into Noah Souvatzis’ death on Tuesday) told the Coroner in hindsight he wished he had consulted a more senior doctor
Dr Bumford told the coroner on Tuesday that with the benefit of hindsight he wished he had asked a more senior doctor to assess Noah, The Age reported.
He also said he wished he had done further checks and referred Noah to the paediatric team to keep him under observation for longer.
‘Given his condition had improved, I felt it was reasonable to discharge him. I am devastated at [the] outcome,’ Dr Bumford said.
The Coroners Court heard from other witnesses who said Wangaratta Hospital had chronic staffing shortages, long ambulance wait times, internal conflict and that its employees had a lack of experience and seniority.
Covid restrictions were in place in parts of Victoria at the time, which also added to the strain of the health sector.
Triage nurse Read Moreland had tears in her eyes as she told the coroner: ‘It had been pretty dire.
‘I do still remember that day,’ she said.
Noah Souvatzis (pictured) was declared brain dead and had his organs donated
The Souvatzis family (pictured) had been on holiday in regional Victoria when 19-month-old Noah became unwell
The nurse said the days leading up to when Noah arrived were a ‘s**tstorm’ and remembered texting others her concern.
‘I don’t know we’re all going to survive … over the next few weeks/months.’
Ms Moreland told the inquest while everything at the hospital had been controlled during lockdowns, once everything opened up again no added resources had been provided to help with the extra workload from holidaymakers.
The triage nurse also said it had become common to hear about patients who had tried to get an ambulance but were told it would be quicker to drive themselves in, which is what happened in Noah’s case.
Ms Morehead described the ambulance wait times as ‘frightening’ for patients and ‘us sometimes’.
The toddler’s parents, Ben and Steph Souvatzis, had been holidaying in the area and previously told the coroner they were forced to repeatedly take their increasingly unwell boy to different health services and were mostly turned away.
Wangaratta Hospital (pictured) was described by a triage nurse as being under-staffed at the time and a ‘s**tstorm’ in the days leading up to Noah arriving the emergency department
The family first arrived at the Alpine Health Care Centre in Myrtleford about 2.30pm but were sent to the Wangaratta emergency department, arriving about 3.45pm.
They were then discharged from Wangaratta about 7.20pm, with Ben Souvatzis telling the inquest Noah was a sicker child than they arrived with.
Mr Souvatzis had recalled to the court that panic and disagreements between staff were rife whilst he stood nursing a semi-conscious Noah in the waiting line of the emergency department.
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