The failure to remove an 84-year-old woman’s bed pole in the lead up to her death at a Hobart nursing home was a “failure of the highest magnitude”, a Tasmanian coroner has found. Barbara Westcott died at Vaucluse Gardens Aged Care facility in March 2012. She was found by an extended care assistant in a building called The Manor about 11:30pm on March 31, lying face down with her head and neck stuck between her mattress and bed pole, and with her knees on the floor. A bed pole is a device that helps patients get in and out of bed. A post-mortem examination determined Ms Westcott had died of position asphyxia, or suffocation. In her report, Coroner Olivia McTaggart found there were “multiple, obvious opportunities to take action that could have prevented Mrs Westcott’s death”. She found Vaucluse Gardens was notified there were dangers associated with bed poles in June 2010. There have had been two interstate coronial decisions, in 2010 and 2011, that warned against the use of bed poles for those with limited mobility and staff at Vaucluse Gardens had been emailed the warning information. Outside the court, Mrs Westcott’s daughter Judy James said her mother’s death was preventable. “This is the third time that this has happened Australia-wide since an alert went out,” she said. “It would be nice for us as a family to have an actual apology from Vaucluse Gardens. We’ve never heard anything.” CEO of Baldwin Care Group Paul Burkett, which manages Vaucluse Gardens, said he was reviewing the coroner’s report and would respond to the findings in coming days.
