Rozalia Spadafora inquest: Hospital staffing low, Dr Kate Watson says

Dr Kate Watson was the doctor in charge of the emergency department when five-year-old Rozalia Spadafora was admitted on July 4, 2022.

The little girl would die the next day after cardiac arrest, having waited five hours in emergency, despite being considered an urgent patient.

Two previous witnesses, doctors at the hospital, separately said they were not surprised she waited that long.

Dr Watson, who no longer works in Canberra, said the emergency department was regularly busy during winter last year.

"The whole department all night was extremely busy. I don't think I paused for longer than a couple of minutes [at any patient]," Dr Watson told the court.

"In winter at that time, that was pretty regular for a night shift."

Rozalia was in a resuscitation bed overnight, having been moved from the paediatric emergency bay.

This is a higher acuity bed, closer to emergency doctors and with more nurses per patients.

Dr Watson was asked if she had told morning doctors not to transfer Rozalia back to the paediatric emergency bay.

She said she did not think the bay would even open that morning, having been told there were not enough nurses.

"Which was pretty common at that time of year," Dr Watson said.

Nurse Analiese Vartiainan told the inquest on Monday she had Rozalia moved to the paediatric bay so she would get attention, with emergency patients expected to arrive soon.

The doctor also said it was not "clear cut" whether the emergency or paediatric department was responsible for Rozalia.

She said in her witness statement that the paediatric department did, and gave evidence it was "shared care".

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Dr Watson said because paediatric registrar Dr Callum Jarvis was treating Rozalia, she focused her attention on other patients.

"This isn't clear cut, but when a team has accepted her care and is actively in our department looking after her [I would turn my attention to other patients]," Dr Watson said, adding she had many patients to care for.

Dr Watson also said there was no formal system to follow up pathology results, other than memory, writing something down or asking a junior doctor to remember.

"It can be very difficult on a busy night shift with lots of tasks to do [to remember]," she said.

"[I] hope both of us remember, but there's not a formal system that I have."

Dr Watson also said it was up to day-shift doctors to work out which patients they were responsible for.

Two emergency department day shift doctors deny they had responsibility for Rozalia on July 5.

"Towards the end of a night shift, it's very much let's get all the information [about patients] out, and the night shift can go home, and the day shift can [sort that out]," Dr Watson said.

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