Patient died at home after vital signs ‘incorrectly’ recorded: inquest

A Gold Coast woman’s vital signs were incorrectly recorded and she was discharged after gastric bypass surgery, despite her condition worsening, an inquest into her death has heard.

Rosemarie Campbell, 62, died at her home in February 2022, three days after gastric bypass surgery was performed by former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s partner, Dr Reza Adib, at Brisbane’s Wesley Hospital.

Her death was referred to the coroner, with an inquest called to examine the adequacy of her care and treatment, her understanding of the surgical risks, and the decisions surrounding her discharge.

On Tuesday, nurses who cared for Campbell gave evidence about her condition in the days after the surgery, and in the hours before she was discharged on February 26 that year.

The court heard that on two occasions before Campbell left the hospital, her vital scores were incorrectly recorded as zero, when they should have been at least one. She had also been vomiting for about 12 hours.

Registered nurse Teresa Fomiatti admitted she had incorrectly calculated the vital scores, but said certain observations, including vomiting, higher blood pressure, and lower oxygen saturation levels, were not uncommon for someone recovering from abdominal surgery.

She said staff were satisfied that Campbell’s condition was “clinically stable”.

Fomiatti noted Campbell was “keen to discharge” and felt she would “recover better at home”, and was concerned by reports of rising floodwaters.

Flooding had also affected staff, and Fomiatti said she was asked to work a 24-hour shift to cover nurses who were unable to get to the hospital.

Nurses called Adib to discuss Campbell’s vomiting and nausea before she was discharged, but did not include information about other vital signs. Adib cleared her discharge and prescribed anti-vomiting medication.

Campbell left the Wesley Hospital on February 26 with her husband and returned to their Gold Coast home.

In a statement to the court, her husband recalled that she had complained of stomach pain and got up several times through the night.

“In the early or mid-morning, I recall my wife saying, ‘I think I made a mistake about surgery’,” the statement said.

When Campbell woke the following day, she had difficulty moving, and later collapsed while her husband was downstairs.

Finding her face-down on the bedroom floor and unresponsive, he commenced CPR. Paramedics were called but despite their attempts to revive her, she died within an hour.

An earlier autopsy determined Campbell’s death was caused by sepsis due to acute bacterial peritonitis and pneumonia.

Forensic pathologist Dr Isaac Han later amended his statement, noting insufficient evidence that bacteria had moved from her bowel into her blood stream to cause sepsis.

The gastric bypass was the second time Adib had operated on Campbell, following a gastric sleeve procedure in 2020.

The court heard Campbell suffered ongoing reflux after her first operation, and the gastric bypass was suggested to treat the condition.

Family statements read to the court described Campbell as a devoted mother and grandmother, who initially opted for weight-loss surgery “to feel healthy enough to run around and spend time with her grandchildren”.

It was said she responded well to the first operation and only had a second procedure on Adib’s advice that it would help with her reflux.

With Cloe Read

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