A 27-year-old highly-regarded engineer who complained of crippling headaches died 11 days later after a hospital refused to give her a CT scan, her family claims.
Supreet Kaur - who was visiting her family in Perth - was ordered to undergo a crucial CT scan but staff at Fiona Stanley Hospital allegedly ignored her doctor's referral, The West Australian reported.
The Queensland woman went to see a GP on October 17 after she began experiencing headaches and painful, discoloured fingers and feet.
She was admitted to FSH's emergency department after her doctor suspected she was suffering a neurological problem.
However, her father Avtar Singh claimed a nurse had refused to follow the GP's order and instead, took her blood samples and sent her home with pain-killers.
Ms Kaur returned to her GP the following day where she did further blood tests.
But by the time her results returned on October 21, the patient endured severe headaches, vomiting and had struggled to walk and suffered eyesight problems.
The GP then referred her to FSH's emergency department and urged her family to contact him if the hospital sent her home again.
She spent three nights in hospital and despite the GP's repeated recommendations, her family claimed she was still not given a CT scan.
Far from getting better, her condition deteriorated, she began to lose the ability to communicate and was unable to move half her body.
When she collapsed in a toilet on the afternoon of October 24, she was finally given a CT scan, during which tests revealed a blood clot had developed on the brain.
The young woman was rushed to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for emergency surgery but despite efforts to save her, it was too late.
Her parents and husband Anoop Basra made the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support on October 27, three days after she collapsed.
The distraught family are now accusing FSH for ignoring the GP's advice after staff failed to give the patient an urgent CT scan.
They believe their daughter's condition was not taken into consideration despite her being referred to the emergency room twice.
'Patients presenting to the ED are treated according to the symptoms they present with and when discharged, patients are advised to either attend the GP or come back if symptoms change or become worse,' the FHS spokesman said in a statement.
'If a GP requests diagnostic scans or specific tests, ED staff will take this into consideration when providing treatment to patients.'
FHS acting executive director Paul Mark has confirmed the hospital will be reviewing the care provided to Ms Kaur.
'We extend our sincere condolences to the patient's family and have made contact with the family to offer our support,' Dr Mark said.
'We are committed to providing safe quality care and have started an internal review, and we will continue to keep the family involved and informed throughout the process.'
