The 80-year-old \u2014 who was deaf, non-verbal, and suffered from dementia \u2014 was not reported missing for at least two hours.<\/p>\n
Despite a days-long extensive land, air and water search, Peter was never found.<\/p>\n
“[It’s] unbelievable. They knew that he was a bit of a wanderer, and he was still able to get out,” Mr Roach said.<\/p>\n
After Peter’s disappearance, another two elderly patients \u2014 both with Alzheimer’s disease \u2014 walked out of central Queensland hospitals.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rod Roach thanked everyone involved in the days-long search for his brother Peter. (ABC Capricornia: Michelle Gately)<\/p>\n
Not being able to properly farewell his brother has left Mr Roach feeling empty and searching for answers.<\/p>\n
“There’s no closure, not at all,” he said.<\/p>\n
“These patients can walk out. It’s not right.”<\/p>\n
A land, air and water search for Peter Roach was called off after several days. (ABC Capricornia: Michelle Gately)<\/p>\n
Australia’s peak body for dementia advocacy said it was a national issue that families were increasingly raising.<\/p>\n
With an aging population it is a complex, multi-pronged problem that has prompted calls for change.<\/p>\n
‘It is not a prison’<\/p>\n
A report from the Central Region’s Coroner’s Court of Queensland, issued in May this year, said Peter was last seen walking along Bowlin Bridge Road in east Rockhampton around 5:15pm on the day he went missing.<\/p>\n
Coroner David O’Connell confirmed he died from dehydration, likely due to exposure to the environment.<\/p>\n
“[It’s] very likely he would have succumbed within a short period of time after he was last seen alive,” the report read.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brothers Peter (left) and Rodney Roach. (Supplied: Rod Roach)<\/p>\n
It was not the first time Peter had wandered from hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n Right to Information documents, obtained by the ABC, showed during his 55-day stay Peter had left the hospital multiple times and was known to sit by the exit on the ward.<\/p>\n Action Review Meeting (ARM) and Human Error and Patient Safety (HEAPS) reports in the months after he disappeared included detailed reviews of the incident.<\/p>\n Subsequent changes were put in place on all wards at Rockhampton Hospital with patients at risk of wandering, including:<\/p>\n new automatic locking doors with intercoms outsidesigns for visitors to shut doors behind themall visitors to the ward were to be escorted by hospital staffdiversional therapists to support dementia patients; andstaff education about wandering risks.<\/p>\n Central Queensland Health and Hospital Service (CQHHS) chief executive Lisa Blackler said the “deepest condolences” went out to Peter’s family.<\/p>\n Lisa Blackler says the hospital is focused on the “lessons learnt” after Peter Roach’s disappearance. (ABC News: Russel Talbot)<\/p>\n “[It] deeply impacts not only his family but us as a healthcare provider, and we’re doing everything we can to support great care to central Queenslanders and leaning in where we can for these types of patients,” Ms Blacker said.<\/p>\n She conceded striking a balance between keeping patients safe, while also respecting their freedoms, was a challenge.<\/p>\n “We have more secure wards and units in our facilities, but it is not a prison. We cannot lock this type of patient in our facility,” Ms Blacker said. Margaret Carvell went missing from Rockhampton Hospital in July 2024 and was found several hours later. (Supplied: QPS)<\/p>\n While the CQHHS said it had learnt lessons from Peter’s disappearance, he would not be the last cognitively-impaired patient to walk out of a central Queensland public health facility.<\/p>\n About 14 months after Peter left the Rockhampton Hospital, for what would be the last time, 80-year-old Margaret Carvell went missing from the same facility’s emergency department<\/a>.<\/p>\n Edward Camille was in Gladstone Hospital for surgery when he left the hospital. (Supplied)<\/p>\n She was found hours later, in the evening, about 3 kilometres away.<\/p>\n On a morning in March 2025 patient Edward Camille, 65, wandered from a surgical ward<\/a> in the Gladstone Hospital, a facility about 100km south of Rockhampton that is also run by the CQHHS.<\/p>\n He was also found several hours later.<\/p>\n Ms Blackler said these two cases were different circumstances to Peter as they were not long-stay patients.<\/p>\n More aged care beds needed<\/p>\n According to the most up-to-date data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare hospitalisations due to dementia<\/a> rose to 26,300 in the 2022-23 financial year.<\/p>\n It does not have data on the instances of those patients wandering from hospital.<\/p>\n Dementia Australia said part of the problem was a shortage of beds in aged care facilities gridlocking hospitals.<\/p>\n Executive director Kaele Stokes said hospitals were not designed for patients with a cognitive impairment to stay long-term.<\/p>\n “What we hear increasingly is that for people who are living with a cognitive impairment \u2026 it’s often not a very supportive environment for them,” Ms Stokes said.<\/p>\n Kaele Stokes says hospitals are not designed for patients with a cognitive impairment to stay long-term. (ABC News: Scott Jewell)<\/p>\n “It can add to their symptoms of cognitive impairment \u2026 [by] not feeling secure and choosing to leave that environment, which then adds additional stress for both the family and hospital staff.<\/p>\n “That can [also] result in adverse medical outcomes and people needing to stay in hospital longer.”<\/p>\n But for some, like Peter , staying in hospital until an aged care bed becomes available was a necessity as it was not safe to return home.<\/p>\n Rod Roach says his older brother Peter was a real “bushie” who loved exploring. (Supplied: Rod Roach)<\/p>\n Queensland Health data from May this year showed there were more than 800 public hospital elderly long-stay patients across the state<\/a>, of which 630 were awaiting a place in residential aged care.<\/p>\n That was up from 539 in May 2023 when Peter went missing.<\/p>\n Aged and Disability Advocacy Australia [ADA] said it also found it was more difficult for people with chronic health conditions or high support needs to access aged care.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n