A mother is seeking an inquest into the death of her son, Stewart Kelly, who died of starvation while in admission at Robina Hospital. Image: Kgbo, via Wikimedia Commons
A Gold Coast mother is seeking a coroner’s inquest following the death of her son, Stewart Kelly, 45, who died of starvation during a 33-day admission at Robina Hospital.
Stewart Kelly was not in critical condition when he was admitted to Robina Hospital in May last year, but he was refusing to eat and had suffered significant weight loss, brought about by mental health issues.
Ann Jeffery, Kelly’s mother, spoke about his death on A Current Affair, and explained that she is seeking a coroner’s inquest.
“He was allowed to reach that critical state within the hospital system. How can that be?” said Jeffery.
“How can someone starve to death in a hospital?”
Kelly, who lived with autism, was in need of mental health treatment after his developing anxiety in early 2022, which caused his sudden lack of appetite.
Kelly was admitted twice to Robina Hospital after significant weight loss – the first time, he was in hospital for eight days and was discharged after showing improvement.
However, Kelly’s health continued to decline over the following months, and he was admitted again to Robina Hospital after losing a further 28kg.
His family expected that he would receive psychiatric treatment and be placed on fluids upon his second admission, but this was not the case.
The hospital did eventually provide a feeding tube for Kelly, but at this point, it was too late.
Stewart Kelly died from starvation after 21 days in intensive care.
“He was cheated of 40 more years of his life,” said his mother.
“I felt the joy had gone out of my life. I felt that he had been left to die possibly because of his disability.”
A spokesperson from Gold Coast Health admitted that “there were significant failures in the care provided to Mr Kelly”, and that “his death was preventable”.
“Open disclosure discussions have been held with his family, and we’ve offered an unreserved apology for his death,” said the spokesperson.
The matter is currently before the Office of the Health Ombudsman.
Some hospital staff were stood down while the case was investigated internally, however, no single person was considered sufficiently blameworthy to warrant referral to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
The internal review identified 11 failures and five lessons in Kelly’s care – including that Kelly was never seen by a psychiatrist due to a lack of a paper referral.
“I want to know what’s been implemented now, 15 months later, after I buried my son. What have they done in actual real terms?” Jeffery said.
Jeffery is seeking a coroner’s inquest which she believes would reveal the full extent of the hospital’s failings in her son’s care.
“I’m now 81, I would like some answers before I die,” she said.
“I need to know that something comes of Stewart’s death so it won’t happen to somebody again.”
