Doctors testify about Canberra Hospital admission process in inquest into Judith Flynn's death

The inquest heard that Judith Gaye Flynn tragically died in the hospital in January 2019 after sustaining a head injury from a fall in one of the wards.

The 72 year old was admitted after experiencing a fall about four days earlier at the Mountain View Aged Care Centre where she resided.

Mrs Flynn also had a complex presentation of differential diagnosis of dementia and/or delirium that she experienced in the past, as well as leading up to her final admission.

In hospital, she experienced hallucinations, confusion, disorientation and cognitive impairment.

On day two of the inquest on Friday, geriatrician Dr Roger Clarnette and fellow medical expert Dr John Raftos gave evidence collectively about the records related to Mrs Flynn's medications, admission process, tests to diagnosis her cognitive impairment and staff supervision.

Both witnesses said patients similar to Mrs Flynn would have been admitted to a geriatric ward if beds were available.

"Geriatric medicine wards have amenity that's most suitable to assessing and managing elderly, frail people," Dr Clarnette said.

"Having said that, general physicians and nurses also have an affinity with how to manage these patients."

Dr Raftos said the evidence showed she had dementia during admission and that doctors had "thoroughly investigated the causes of delirium" but could not find causes for it.

"Despite appropriate investigation, no treatable cause for the delirium had been found, so there was no specific treatment that could be given that would've altered Mrs Flynn's cognitive impairment at that stage," he said.

"In this case, her frailty, reduced muscle strength and the strange environment that conspired against her and contributed to what happened during the entire admission."

In relation to supervision, the inquest heard that Mrs Flynn was identified as a high risk of falling and she needed close nurse supervision at all times with her bed rails up during bed rest.

Mrs Flynn's onset of cognitive impairment came after her husband, Joseph Flynn, died a couple of months before her final hospital admission.

She was at a South Coast hospital at the time of his death before she was transferred to Mountain View Aged Care Centre.

The inquest is examining the broad areas of the cause of Mrs Flynn's death, which includes timeline of presentation, admission and treatment; the level of supervision and care she received; and, whether public safety matters arise related to the hospital's care and treatment of patients with cognitive impairment.

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During the first day of the inquest, Mrs Flynn's youngest daughter, Jo Lane, said during her visits to the hospital, she requested and asked hospital staff about transferring her mother to the geriatric ward.

Ms Lane said they told her a patient needed to be 80 years or older.

In a statement, Mrs Flynn's family said they knew their mother was confused, disoriented and highly vulnerable.

"We thought she would receive the care she needed and be safe at the hospital," the statement reads.

"We strongly advocated for our mum because she was so vulnerable."

The family said they hoped the inquest, as difficult as it is, would put in place protocols that would protect vulnerable elderly patients at the hospital.

"Our mum's death was preventable and we would not want anyone else or their loved ones to go through the horrendous experience that we did," they said.

"Our mum was loved and is dearly missed."

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