Inquest into death of 87-year-old Terry Airey has highlighted dramatic lapses in medical procedure. It is against this backdrop that the homey lapses happened at Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH). Airey died on June 11, 2022, following routine surgery that exposed significant issues in patient care, particularly during the postoperative phase.
Airey came to SCUH with a “huge,” “atypical,” and “unique” cyst that needed urgent action. Lead surgeon Dr. Roger Wilson, a hospital resident in training, was able to salvage the surgery. He emptied almost two liters of fluid from the cyst. After the procedure, though, the care Airey received sharply declined, resulting in tragic outcomes.
Chaotic Postoperative Care
Soon after the surgery, Terry Airey was moved back to Gympie, which is around 100 kilometres from SCUH. Shockingly, a liter of alcoholic betadine was still retained in his cyst when the drain was taken out. The night after the surgery, a number of different nurses were caring for Airey, showing inconsistency and confusion over the handover process.
The senior nurse in charge of Airey’s care drained and refilled his cyst twice using one litre of alcoholic betadine. This process was made possible by rotating Airey between each of the refills. The final drainage — an important procedure with considerable risks — was the only one they expected Dr. Wilson to do when he failed to do it. Dr. Wilson taking the oath, as he testifies during the inquest. To our astonishment, he disclosed that he had been ordered to refill the cyst with only half the volume he drained.
The inquest discovered that Terry Airey was exposed to extremely high levels of alcoholic betadine at a concentration of 30 percent. Furthermore, he discovered medical-grade ethanol, which went up to 96 or 98 percent concentration. Staff erroneously assumed that these substances would only be present at the maximum allowable concentration.
Consequences of Unsupervised Training
The inquest highlighted that Terry Airey’s death was caused by multiple organ failure after surgery performed by an unobserved training doctor. This bombshell led to widespread, massive concerns about the lax supervision and training practices and procedures for educating medical professionals.
Dr. Wilson’s actions were indefensible as he conducted a procedure that was a considerable outlier from recommended clinical practice guidelines. The lack of oversight during this critical phase of patient care pointed to systemic issues within SCUH’s training processes and patient management protocols.
In retaliation, SCUH has increased its retaliatory staffing actions. Additionally, they have adopted procedural changes to ensure no similar incidents occur in the future. The administration of the hospital wanted to do better. They are focused on minimizing risk to patients and improving the quality of care.
Institutional Response and Future Measures
In the wake of the tragic events that led to Terry Airey’s case, Sunshine Coast University Hospital has pledged to review their operational procedures. The administration has stated that it is actively working on increasing staff numbers and providing additional training to ensure adherence to best practices in patient care.
The hospital is taking part in dialogues to strengthen its overall supervisory frameworks for training physicians. We have put in place a stronger framework to oversee the medical procedures fellows perform. This places an experienced and highly trained physician in every critical intervention, all of the time.
The inquest’s conclusions led to passionate debates in the wider medical establishment. They highlighted the absolute necessity for thorough oversight and responsibility in healthcare environments. Stakeholders urge that continuing to provide patient care at these same high standards is essential to protecting the health and safety of patients.
