Stewart Kelly STARVES to death in Australia’s Robina Hospital: ‘He was left to die’
The mother of an autistic man who starved to death in hospital fears he was left to die because of his disability.
Stuart Kelly died at Robina Hospital on the Gold Coast in August 2022 after starvation and dehydration.
The 45-year-old was in hospital for 33 days, 20 of them in intensive care, where he refused to eat and required treatment for his mental health.
“He was allowed to reach this critical point in the hospital system. How can it be?’ His mother, Ann Jeffrey, 81, said this. Current case.
“How can you die of hunger in a hospital?
“I feel like he was cheated out of another 40 years of his life. I felt like the joy was gone from my life. “I felt like he was left for dead, possibly because of his disability.”
Stuart Kelly (pictured) starved to death in hospital
More than a year after her son’s death, Ms Jeffrey is demanding to know what the hospital is now doing to prevent other patients from suffering the same fate.
“I want to know what has been implemented now, 15 months after I buried my son, what have they done in real terms?”
A Gold Coast Health spokesman said it “acknowledges that there were serious shortcomings in the care we provided to Mr Kelly and that his death could have been prevented”.
“Open discussions have been held with his family about disclosure and we have unreservedly apologized for his death.”
“The reasons for our failures were complex and we are committed to implementing all the recommendations of the RCA (Root Cause Analysis) report and learning the lessons needed to better support patients with nervous disorders or disabilities.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Queensland Department of Health for comment.
Ms Jeffrey (pictured) demanded to know what the hospital was doing to prevent the situation from happening again.
Robina Hospital (pictured) said there had been a number of failures in caring for Mr Kelly.
Mr Kelly (pictured) spent 20 days in intensive care and never received help for his mental health.
Mr Kelly’s death is being investigated by the Office of the Queensland Health Ombudsman, the agency that handles complaints about health services.
His death is among several preventable patient deaths that have occurred recently at Robina Hospital.
Former police officer Kevin Farr was killed in a dementia ward in October after the 68-year-old was attacked by another patient.
An 86-year-old elderly patient believed to be delusional died in November after jumping from a balcony.