Whistleblowers have come forward showing an Australian hospital may have been lying about how an elderly woman received severe injuries in their care.
The 83-year-old woman, known as Mrs B, was receiving treatment at Hornsby Hospital, north of Sydney, in late September for her dementia.
But when her daughter Tracey McCarthy visited she was shocked to discover Mrs B was covered in severe bruises, cuts and two black eyes, 9News reported.
It took five days for the hospital to provide an explanation for the injuries - that Mrs B has sustained two falls while in their care.
But Mrs B's friend radio host Ray Hadley said on Wednesday the hospital's explanation was "incomprehensible and disgusting" and he believed the injuries were the result of a different incident.
"You don't get two black eyes, choke bruising on your neck, skin stripped bare from your arm, by falling. That doesn't happen," he said.
On Wednesday, whistleblowers from inside the hospital seemed to confirm his suspicions.
Hadley said a person, who he believed held a senior position in the hospital, told him they saw Mrs B walking to an elevator in the dementia ward when she was "restrained".
"'[She] was then pushed or dragged back into her bed,'" Hadley said the whistleblower told him.
Another person told 7News during the police investigation, they didn't check cameras or interview staff to find out how Mrs B was hurt.
"I'm not suggesting that this was a deliberate attack on an elderly person," Hadley said.
"The injuries could not have been from a fall alone! Someone escorting the 83-year-old dementia patient from the lift back to her bed in my opinion has used excessive force."
Police confirmed to 7News on Wednesday they had reopened the investigation.
A spokesman for Northern Sydney Local Health District said the hospital was also looking into the incident on Wednesday.
They also offered an "unreserved apology" to the family.
