Nurses had tried to raise the alarm about a patient before he attacked and killed a former police officer at a hospital on the Gold Coast.

Kevin Farr was a father and a decorated police officer.

In 2023, he was diagnosed with dementia and placed in a specialized ward at Robina Hospital, where he was tragically killed by another patient in his own room.

His family believe he would still be alive today if proper procedures had been put in place. 

“I genuinely believe that if the correct protocols had been established and adhered to from the outset, Kevin would not have met his end in such a manner,” his ex-wife Christine Hawke stated to 9News.

Sources from Queensland Health have informed 9News that there have always been concerns regarding how the patient who killed Farr managed to enter his room and if the medication and supervision were adequate.

An internal investigation into his death has found that nurses had raised concerns about the man who killed Farr.

The report said that the “patient did not receive a medical review or medical progress note entry for 10-days, and on a different occasion, eight days, despite repeated behavioural crisis and escalations by nursing staff”.

It also found the Gold Coast Health Service had “a lack of specific models of care, treatment pathways and appropriately designed clinical settings … leading to ineffective and inadequate management of patients”.

According to the report, this had “directly impacted the outcomes of the reviewed patients”.

Farr’s family said they were unaware of issues inside the hospital until they were contacted by 9News. They then received the investigation findings.

“I was actually horrified, but I felt that my concerns from the beginning were quite justified,” Hawke said.

“I was extremely disappointed that from the very beginning, we’d been lied to. I think trying to cover up what was obviously something that they were responsible for.”

Farr’s family said they have not had a briefing or apology from hospital bosses.

“Hopefully, in the future, something can be done, but I don’t want it to just be swept under the rug. It needs to be brought out,” Hawke said.

The Gold Coast Health Service said in a statement that it is following the review’s recommendations.