Inquest into man's death at Geraldton hospital

An inquest has heard a patient who died in Geraldton Regional Hospital could not be transferred to the high-dependency ward because all six units were occupied at the time.

Instead, doctors had to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the man for 30 minutes, in a surgical ward where he had been recovering from an operation to remove his gall bladder.

Deputy State Coroner Evelyn Vicker is in Geraldton for an inquest into the death on September 2, 2009, of Carnarvon man John Gregory Squires at the age of 47.

Senior medical officer Dr Roy Varghese said he performed emergency CPR when Mr Squires developed problems with blood flow and shortness of breath.

He said Mr Squires did not respond to CPR after 30 minutes, and so the medical team had made a “collective decision” to cease the action.

Dr Varghese told Ms Vicker there was a definite need for more high-dependency units at the hospital, but in this case the outcome was unlikely to have been different had Mr Squires been in one of the units.

A total of 14 witnesses have been called for the inquest, which has been set down for a week.