ACCORDING to the Health Department, the voluntary Hospital in the
Home program operates across 52 sites statewide and provides acute care
for public patients.
Hospital staff can offer the home-based option as an alternative
to in-patient care if the care can be delivered safely at home. Kylie
Harkin, former administrator of The Alfred hospital’s program, said it
was like being in “a virtual ward”.
GRIEVING: Grieving mum shares her heartbreak
FAMILY: Pain of loss ‘sometimes unbearable’
Coroner Kim Parkinson said a key aspect of the inquest was
examining why a patient in the home care program would be told to wait
for painkillers to take effect, instead of being proactively examined in
case something was wrong.
Mother Irene Gilmore said questions lingered as to why Andrew had been released into home care earlier than expected.
“If it was an ingrown toenail, OK, but he had major surgery,” she
said. “In hospital he was getting checked every four hours, but at home
it was once a day for half an hour.”
