Family wrongly informed of relative’s death in hospital identity mix up
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A hospital in Werribee has apologised after mistakenly identifying a 54-year-old woman, resulting in police wrongly informing her family of her death.
A 55-year-old woman was found dead in Tarneit on May 13, Victoria Police said, and was initially misidentified as a different 54-year-old woman.
Werribee Mercy Hospital.Joe Armao
“A notification was made to the Werribee woman’s family before she was found to be alive and well,” police said.
Werribee Mercy Hospital, a public hospital operated by Catholic not-for-profit organisation Mercy Health, incorrectly linked patient identification records to the deceased outpatient. Police said the deceased woman had been misidentified due to documents located in her possession.
“We are deeply sorry to the patients and family involved and to everyone affected,” a Mercy Health spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the organisation was undertaking a review to “understand how this occurred and to identify any improvements needed to strengthen our patient identification processes and ensure that it does not occur again.
“We are continuing to support those directly affected and are working with the relevant authorities as appropriate. As the review of this matter is ongoing, we are unable to provide further detail at this time.”
Victoria Police said it was in contact with the woman, who ABC News has identified as Werribee resident Michelle Buckley, and her family.
“The deceased woman has since been identified as a 55-year-old woman, and the death is not being treated as suspicious,” police said.
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Default avatarJames Costa is a breaking news reporter at The Age.Connect via X or email.