An inquest has heard how the daughter of one of ‘s top heart surgeons killed herself in hospital after she was allegedly abandoned by staff.
Sarah Skillington was just 33 when doctors found her body in her bathroom at the mental health unit which specialised in caring for clinically-depressed new mothers.
The beloved daughter of Dr Peter Skillington had been well-supported by her husband Jarvis and family before her admission to Mitcham Private Hospital in Melbourne’s east, the inquest heard.
Ms Skillington was an architect who had experienced only minor struggles with anxiety before giving birth to her daughter on November 6, 2023.
But she would be found dead just 13 days later after telling doctors she was struggling badly with anxiety.
On Monday, Victorian coroner David Ryan heard the workplace watchdog WorkSafe was considering launching criminal charges against those it holds responsible for allowing Ms Skillington to kill herself while undergoing care.
Her father and husband are being represented by Maurice Blackburn lawyers, who are understood to be awaiting the outcome of the inquest before launching a possible civil action against the hospital.
The inquest heard Ms Skillington had been acutely aware she was struggling mentally following the birth of her daughter, but went downhill dramatically upon being placed into the hospital’s perinatal unit.
Breaking down in tears, Ms Skillington’s obstetrician Dr Pip Costley recalled her final tragic conversation with her patient.
‘She called me on that day from hospital saying that she didn’t want to be there and that she wanted to know the details of the psychiatrist that I had contacted,’ Dr Costley told the coroner’s court.
‘I gave her those details but I also told her that she needed to stay there and she needed care because she wasn’t okay.
‘And that was the last time I spoke to her.’
In opening the inquest, counsel assisting the coroner Megan Fitzgerald said authorities had various concerns about Ms Skillington’s care at the hospital, including various staffing issues ranging from their numbers to qualifications.
Ms Skillington had never expressed any suicidal thoughts and had sought help from her doctors when she realised she was struggling.
The court heard her pregnancy had been uncomplicated, with only minor issues arising from the birth.
But Dr Costley claimed Ms Skillington appeared ‘infatuated’ with those issues and had struggled to sleep following the birth.
Days before her death, doctors noted she appeared unusually ‘flat’ and ‘dishevelled’ and prescribed her medications to help her sleep.
Her local GP was so concerned, he made a referral to the perinatal unit, writing in capped letters ‘PRIORITY REFERRAL PLEASE ASAP’.
The court heard Ms Skillington checked into the hospital on November 16 where a doctor assessed her as ‘low risk’.
She was placed on ‘category one’ observations, which meant staff were supposed to check on her every two hours.
It is an assessment that will be closely scrutinised by the coroner, the inquest heard.
The doctor did not plan to assess Ms Skillington again for another four days, by which time she was already dead.
‘Whether the care plan and psychiatric review interval was appropriate will also be considered by the court,’ Ms Fitzgerald said.
The court heard observation charts would also be scrutinised by the inquest amid suspicion they were inaccurate.
‘Inconsistencies between other records on the clinical file, the observation records and the CCTV footage obtained from the unit raise doubts about the accuracy of the data recorded in the observation charts and about the quality and efficiency of observations performed in the unit,’ Ms Fitzgerald said.
The court heard staff could not even say when Ms Skillington died.
‘There is uncertainty about the time of Sarah’s death … whether Sarah died overnight between November 18 and 19 or on the morning of 19 November,’ Ms Fitzgerald said.
The coroner will also look into the state of the hospital’s perinatal unit at the time and how Ms Skillington was able to self-harm in what was supposed to be a unit designed to protect her from herself.
The court heard Ms Skillington had initially been overjoyed with the birth of her daughter.
‘She was delighted as (her baby) was born. She was extremely engaged (with her child) and Jarvis asked for photos to be taken of the two of them and it was a really happy birth,’ Dr Costley said.
The doting mum had previously expressed her hopes and dreams about her and her child’s future together, and her plans to have another child.
The inquest is scheduled to run for five days, with several witnesses expected to obtain certificates to indemnify themselves from prosecution on the grounds their evidence could incriminate them.
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