The doctor was found in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Photo: AFP / Gorodenkoff Productions / Science Photo Library
A doctor who did not order an electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood test for a woman with chest pain has been found in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights.
A woman in her 80s went to the doctor in late 2020, after feeling chest pain, dizziness and had been vomiting.
The doctor at the time diagnosed a possible viral infection of gastritis and said an electrocardiogram was not necessary, despite the patient's daughter asking repeatedly for additional tests.
The patient had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital's emergency department the next day, with tests showing she had a heart attack, and subsequently spent weeks in hospital.
The patient passed away during the health and disabilities commissioner's investigation.
The aged care commissioner found the doctor had breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights.
The commissioner was critical of the doctor for not performing an ECG and investigating possible cardiac causes for the woman's chest pain.
The woman's daughter told the health and disability commissioner that she was concerned about her mother having cardiac issues and had asked repeatedly if there were additional tests such as ECG.
But she said she had been told that the clinic, despite having an ECG machine, did not have facilities for conducting blood tests - so patients were referred to a laboratory or ED.
The patient's daughter said she's still to this day anguished by the doctor's treatment of her mother.
'[Since the event] my sister and I have both suffered mental and emotional anguish from the knowledge that more could have been done for our mother.
"Even after 2.5 years there is not a day goes by that we don't remember the events of that day and the disregard that [Dr A] displayed towards our mother. We will live with this for the rest of our lives."
The doctor told HDC she accepted not performing an ECG was an error in judgement.
She said she deeply regretted the failure in her care and had since undertaken extensive self-directed learning on acute care situations, in particular in the area of acute coronary syndrome and older women.