Josh Zimmerman: Only thing on minds of Aishwarya Aswath’s parents at Perth Children’s Hospital was her safety

When Aishwarya’s parents carried their limp and feverish daughter through the doors of Perth Children’s Hospital on the night before Easter two years ago the only thing on their minds was the safety of their treasured child. Tragically for the seven-year-old, there was so much running through the minds of the overstretched nurses and doctors she encountered that any chance of saving her life slipped through their fingers. To borrow from deputy state coroner Sarah Linton’s 116-page report: “It really is as simple, and as tragic, as that.” Ms Linton’s blow-by-blow account of the missed opportunities to recognise the sepsis attacking Aishwarya’s organs — and the ultimately futile attempts to save her when that recognition finally dawned — is heart-wrenching reading. But a thorough analysis of Ms Linton’s findings makes it clear that Aishwarya’s course was set long before she arrived at PCH. Desperate nurses had repeatedly raised concerns with hospital management about their impossible patient loads months before Aishwarya died — going so far as to warn it was only a matter of time before tragedy struck. The most enlightening part of the coronial report lies in the evidence of former PCH chief executive Aresh Anwar, who acknowledged he was acutely aware of staffing pressures but had few levers available to him. Pandemic-enforced border closures had cut PCH off from the overseas workers that had long sustained it and casual nursing staff — on which the hospital was “heavily reliant” — disappeared into less stressful COVID-related roles such as vaccine and testing clinics. Faced with a failing model for staffing the hospital, Dr Anwar described the approach of management as “making the least bad decision”. It was never sustainable and ultimately collapsed. Aishwarya must be kept front of mind as that model is rebuilt.