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The operators of a Melbourne hospital have been charged over the tragic death of a new mother left unsupervised for 11 hours after her admission to a mental health ward.
WorkSafe on Tuesday charged Ramsay Health Care Australia, who run Mitcham Private Hospital, with two counts of failing to ensure the safety of a person who was not an employee.
Sarah Skillington was found dead in her hospital room after being admitted for severe anxiety after giving birth.
Sarah Skillington, 33, took her own life within days of being admitted to the hospital’s Perinatal Mental Health Unit following the birth of daughter Lily on November 6, 2023.
Skillington’s death was the subject of a 2025 coronial inquest which heard the architect had developed significant anxiety shortly after giving birth. Her doctor recommended she be admitted to Mitcham Private for extra support.
Coroner David Ryan found that Skillington’s death could have been prevented if hospital staff had followed their own protocol, which required hourly overnight checks. Instead, a series of serious oversights allowed her to go unattended and ultimately die in a hospital bathroom.
It was among several damning findings following the five-day inquest into her death.
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“Sarah’s death was a tragedy which is devastating to her family and friends,” Ryan said. “The inquest was a necessary but challenging and distressing process for both her family and clinicians.”
The coroner also found that Skillington had been wrongly diagnosed with anxiety when she was instead in the grips of postpartum psychosis, despite being assessed by a psychiatrist as being low risk and placed on category 1 observations.
Ryan identified multiple failings in Skillington’s care, and said fundamental aspects of her treatment had been “significantly undermined”.
His report made several strong recommendations, including that Ramsay Health Care increase staffing levels in the perinatal mental health unit to a minimum of two clinicians at all times – with at least one having specific mental health training and experience.
Ryan also said the health service must provide specific training to nursing staff in the perinatal mental health unit on how to recognise and treat postpartum psychosis, which can be difficult to distinguish from postnatal anxiety.
He also recommended that nursing staff receive targeted training on recognising and responding to postpartum psychosis, which can often resemble postnatal anxiety but requires different clinical responses.
The WorkSafe prosecution is scheduled for a filing hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 6.
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