The NT coroner finds Aboriginal man Mr Dooley, who died in police custody in 2022, may have been in cardiac arrest for up to two days before an ambulance was called to the Darwin prison.
NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has found Mr Dooley's death at Royal Darwin Hospital in 2022 was avoidable.The coroner recommended a series of reforms to NT Health, NT Corrections and the NT Police Force in response to Mr Dooley's death.
Mr Dooley, a Maiyali man from the small Northern Territory community of Eva Valley, whose first name cannot be used for cultural reasons, died in palliative care at Royal Darwin Hospital in October 2022 after suffering a heart attack. Another ECG on the September 13, 2022 returned an abnormal result again, but Mr Dooley was still not referred to a cardiologist, the coroner heard.
The nurse told the coroner that in hindsight, Mr Dooley was on day 17 of the medication, and it was of "low likelihood" to be the cause of his symptoms.The next morning, Mr Dooley was called into the clinic, but the coroner found that nurses had failed to take a full set of vitals. She ruled the circumstances of Mr Dooley's death were avoidable and that that "repeated and likely systemic failings" by health professionals to respond to his ECG let him down.NT Health conceded there was a "failure by those treating Mr Dooley" and that "there were deficiencies in the care provided to him".
NT Corrections ensure that prisoners have a direct line of contact to medical professionals when they have health complaints, and that the filing of medical records be reviewed for accuracy.
Glen Dooley Coronial Inquest Elisabeth Armitage Royal Darwin Hospital
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