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An 86-year-old man died in hospital after medical staff made serious errors in his diagnosis and treatment, a coroner has found.
Rodney James Hanslow was taken to Calvary Hospital on July 5, 2021, two days after he fell and injured his head at his Hobart home.
A CT scan showed he had a brain haemorrhage and staff noted he was acting confused and agitated.
On July 21, nurses began noticing abnormalities in Mr Hanslow's stools although they did not convey that information to his doctor.
He was not given prescribed medication for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
On August 3, blood tests showed Mr Hanslow's haemoglobin levels dropped significantly and further procedures showed he had a bleeding ulcer in his small intestine.
By that point, the 86-year-old was critically unwell and was taken into palliative care where he died on August 8.
Coroner Simon Cooper found the failures of the hospital staff contributed to Mr Hanslow's death.
"The medical staff made serious errors in relation to diagnosis and management of Mr Hanslow leading to a fatal outcome," the coroner said in his report.
"I have reached the view that the care and the medical treatment provided to Mr Hanslow at Calvary Hospital prior to his death was below an acceptable standard."
The hospital told the coroner it undertaken a review following Mr Hanslow's death, which recommended improvements to its communication systems, policies and procedures.
Mr Cooper expressed his condolences to Mr Hanslow's family.
