Hospital death: family's life without mum

A family is learning to live without its wife and mother, following a hospital mix-up that led to her death. A trust fund has been set up in her name.

This is a story about how a young mum fell victim to a hospital system in apparent disarray.

Petah Kimm died before she even had a chance to see her new daughter.

David Cuthbertson and his partner Petah had been together for 4 years. They had three kids from previous relationships, but Petah wanted a child with David.

Little could she know, it would end with her death.

Placenta Praevia is a rare condition that can result in death. It results in bleeding and should have been a red flag to hospital staff that Petah needed close supervision.

But no alarm was raised and within two hours of David saying goodbye to his future wife, she was dead.

A hospital investigation allegedly suggests a series of bungles by hospital staff, but Petah Kimm is not alone. More than 70,700 admitted patients died in hospital in 2004--2005.

Governments refuse to list whether negligence is a cause.

Professor Steven Leeder is the director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy. He believes urgent action is needed to fix the number of unexplained deaths in our hospitals.

"The question is, given that we know there are a lot of people who suffer misadventure in hospital, even though it is a dangerous place, even though they come in with serious illnesses, are we doing the best we can to prevent those disasters occurring?" Professor Leeder asked.

"My judgment is, there is still a lot of room to move.”

Petah's death has turned this family upside down. David can't work, he's looking after his new daughter Alyssa and three teenagers. They all pitch in, now trying to forge a life without a mother.

It's put enormous pressure on 16-year-old Nicole.

"Sometimes it's a bit hard with school and assignments and being in Year 11 and all that stuff," Nicole said. "Doing the cleaning and helping with Alyssa and all that kind of stuff."

The family is now planning to sue the hospital for negligence. At the same time, their small country town has rallied to their aid, organising a trust fund to raise money to help pay their bills.

They hope to raise $150,000, but it won't bring Petah back, nor fix the hospital system.

“It shouldn't take somebody to die for them to come and check their procedures," David said.

"There should be teams of people in there doing that sort of thing, without families like us having to go through this."

A trust fund has been set up to help the family:
Kimm-Cuthbertson Family Trust
Commonwealth Bank (any branch)
Acc no: 257710160408

Or contact Paul Davis, trustee: (02) 6374 4293