Denying a bed and an intravenous drip to a two-year-old boy with a racing pulse were among critical failures contributing to his death at a privately operated hospital, his parents say.
Toddler Joe Massa was left in an emergency chair for two and a half hours in September 2024, after presenting as a public patient to Sydney's Northern Beaches Hospital with serious symptoms.
The toddler had hypovolemia, a condition that occurs when the body loses too much fluid, but a few hours later he died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
"Our son should be here today," his parents Elouise and Danny Massa said in a statement on Thursday.
"He had his whole life ahead of him and we trusted Northern Beaches Hospital to provide the care he needed.
"Instead, he was failed at every level - by individuals, by hospital management, and by a system that values budgets over lives."
The hospital, which caters to both public and private patients, is operated by Healthscope, which runs 38 hospitals nationwide and is owned by Canadian private equity giant Brookfield.
The couple claim hospital staff failed to respond to his imminently life-threatening condition for more than three hours.
Staff ignored critical warning signs including the toddler's high heart rate, which went up to 192 beats per minute within half an hour, the parents said.
The boy also exhibited signs of limpness and a rash, and he lost consciousness.
They said nurses refused to connect the toddler to a drip even though Mrs Massa asked them three times and that he also was denied a bed for several hours.
The hospital operator has apologised to the family for the toddler's death and met with them to "hear directly about their tragic experience".
"We recognise Joe’s death has caused unimaginable heartache and grief for the family," it said in a statement.
Hospital management also discussed the findings of a review into the incident and pledged to improve its systems, including for triaging patients, the operator said.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the toddler's tragic death represented a new low in the state's healthcare system.
"This is among the worst possible things that can happen in our health system," he said.
"I never want any parent to go through this."
A review had been completed and the hospital had accepted all its recommendations, Mr Park said.
The minister also took aim at the former coalition government's privatisation model for the hospital.
Mr and Mrs Massa said the government must re-evaluate its contract with Healthscope to ensure "private operators prioritise patient safety over profit".
