The chief executive of West Moreton Health says it is not clear why a non-clinical staff member assisted in the resuscitation of a man who died at the Ipswich Hospital emergency department on Friday afternoon.
Kerrie Freeman said there was no indication any action by staff contributed to the patient's death, but a doctor or a nurse should have assisted the resuscitation rather than the orderly.
She said it was believed the emergency department was adequately staffed at the time.
"When we do have incidents like this in the emergency department, everyone has a part to play and that includes our operational staff or what might be called a 'wardie'," she said.
"But at no stage would we support them working outside their scope of practice. That is never accepted."
She said "bystander CPR" training was offered to all staff, but it was unclear whether this particular staff member was trained.
"We have good systems for our staff to report to us if they have concerns about staffing and that includes for nursing filling out workload forms, and we work very closely with our partners at the Queensland Nurse and Midwifery Union to review those," she said.
"As of Friday or recently, we haven't had any notifications from staff that they have concerns, but what we will do — as part of the health service investigation — we will look at those contextual issues to make sure staffing wasn't an issue.
"There is never just one other person who can help.
"What I do know from the clinical team is that we had adequate staffing, particularly in the resuscitation area of the emergency department."
Beth Mohle, secretary of the Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union (QNMU), said the union was not aware of any current workload grievances at the Ipswich Hospital's emergency department.
"The QNMU understands untrained staff are not routinely called upon to perform medical procedures," Ms Mohle said.
"No health worker should be expected to perform clinical duties outside of their skill level and training."
