A western Victorian woman is taking Grampians Health to court for medical negligence after she developed blood clots and had to be rushed to Melbourne for life-saving surgery.
Katrina Repper, 41, developed the large blood clots in 2017 after she had a hysterectomy at Stawell hospital before it merged with Grampians Health.
Shari Liby, a principal lawyer at Slater & Gordon, said Ms Repper's treating doctors found the clot measured one by three centimetres and was "flopping around inside of her heart".
"She quite easily could have died from that and unfortunately has been left with quite a psychiatric injury," Ms Liby said.
Ms Liby said when Ms Repper was being rushed in an ambulance with lights and sirens in the background, her priority was her children who were then aged five, eight and 11.
"I thought I was going to die and leave my kids without a mum because nobody had listened to me," Ms Repper said in a statement.
Opportunities allegedly missed
Ms Liby said there were multiple instances when the blood clot could have been detected or prevented altogether.
She alleged hospital staff did not follow the surgeon's post-operative instructions to administer anti-clotting medication daily following her operation or provide Ms Repper with information upon discharge to reduce the risks of clotting.
The statement of claims filed in Victoria's Supreme Court also alleged Stawell's emergency department misdiagnosed Ms Repper as having back pain and subsequently diverticulitis, an inflammation of the digestive tract, when she presented several times with breathlessness and severe pain.
Ms Liby said a blood clot in the lungs, known as a pulmonary embolism, was a known risk associated with major abdominal surgery and should have been at the top of the list as a potential diagnosis.
"A blood test or a chest scan was all it would have taken to have diagnosed things before they got worse," she said.
Eventually a CT scan was carried out at Stawell hospital that revealed multiple clots.
She was transferred to Ballarat Base Hospital then rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where she spent time in intensive care.
Loss of faith and confidence
Ms Liby said that although the physical effects had been resolved, the "harrowing" experience left Ms Repper with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
She said prior to the ordeal Ms Repper was a social and active mother and wife, but developing another clot had become a constant source of stress for her.
"She is a very worried mother now and has lost a lot of the confidence she once had," Ms Liby said.
Ms Repper said she had lost faith in healthcare services.
"I no longer trust doctors or anyone in the medical profession to make the right decisions in regard to mine or my family's health," she said.
"And worse, I also do not trust myself anymore to make those decisions either.
"I need to them to understand how their mistakes have affected me, accept responsibility for those mistakes and make changes so that no other family goes through what we have."
Ms Liby said a very big proportion of her medical cases involved regional care.
"Whether you're in Ballarat or Bendigo or Melbourne, you should be getting the same care … everybody is entitled to reasonable care.
"This is the kind of preventable and avoidable bad outcome that I'm trying to change.
"The only way we can make a difference is by raising these issues and holding people to account so it doesn't happen again."
Grampians Health said it would be inappropriate to comment because the case was before the courts.
