The state coroner has received a complaint from a doctor at Rockingham General Hospital that a 55-year-old patient there was transferred to the morgue there and placed in a body bag before he was in fact dead.

The man, who was in palliative care, was not certified as deceased when nursing staff moved him from his bed to the morgue on September 5.

The disturbing claims were published by Gary Adshead in WA Business News, who told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings that the doctor made a harrowing discovery when he later opened the body bag.

Tap PLAY to hear Adshead detail the disturbing story on 6PR

“When the bag is unzipped, according to the report that’s been sent to the coroner, there are telltale signs that the patient could not have been post-mortem, could not have been deceased at the time they were placed in the bag,” he told Bartlett.

Opposition calls for CCC probe
Opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam says the alleged incident is horrific and the doctor’s claims he was directed to backdate the man’s death “deeply disturbing”.

She urged the government to conduct a thorough investigation and supported a Corruption and Crime Commission probe into the doctor’s claims.