Parents Allege 'No Urgency' in Son's Hospital Care

A coronial inquest is examining the tragic death of two-year-old Joe Massa, who passed away at Northern Beaches Hospital on September 16, 2024. His mother, Elouise Massa, has told the inquest that hospital staff appeared to lack urgency in responding to her son's rapidly declining health in the hours before he went into cardiac arrest. She described one doctor as looking "out of his depth" and unconcerned, despite Joe's visibly unwell state and a developing rash.

Joe's condition had worsened significantly since the previous day, with his mother noting he was "floppy" and struggling to keep his head up. The inquest heard that Joe's parents called triple-0 when he began vomiting and struggled to breathe. Upon arrival at the hospital, initial observations of Joe's heart rate were logged as normal by the triage nurse.

Further details revealed that the hospital's digital triage system, WEBPAS, did not flag Joe's elevated heart rate of 182bpm as a cause for concern, a situation that would have triggered alerts in public hospital systems. This technological aspect, alongside potential staffing and procedural issues linked to the hospital's public-private partnership, will be under intense scrutiny. The suspected cause of death involves an abdominal growth, possibly linked to a fecal impaction.