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Dr Veronica Foote said Patterson returned to Leongatha Hospital at 9:48am on Monday 31 July.

Dr Foote said she reviewed Patterson around 10.30am and the mother-of-two reported she had eaten the same meal as Ian and Heather Wilkinson.

Dr Foote said Patterson reported suffering from nausea and diarrhoea but no vomiting.

“Her initial blood pressure was 30 on 90. That was in normal range,” she said.

“Her pulse was 140. That was high.

“Her temperature was 35.6 and that is in the normal range.”

Dr Foote said she performed an examination of Patterson’s abdomen and noted it was soft and parts were tender.

She explained “tenderness” was determined by touch and verbal or physical feedback from the patient, such as the patient displaying signs of pain, and softness confirmed the absence of firm, surgical causes of stomach upset (such as appendicitis).

Dr Foote said she wasn’t sure what led her to determine Patterson was experiencing tenderness, but “it was likely a combination” of touch and conversation.

The prosecution asked Dr Foote whether she observed Patterson making any “toilet outputs” during her time in hospital.

In response, Dr Foote said: “No”.

Dr Foote said about 12pm she conducted another heart rate test on Patterson before she left the hospital.

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The court has been shown CCTV footage of medics trying to stop Patterson from leaving Leongatha Hospital.

Dr Veronica Foote said she arrived for a shift around 8am on Monday July 31 and had a handover conversation with Dr Chris Webster about Ian and Heather Wilkinson’s admission into the hospital.

She said she then spoke to the director of nursing, Kylie Ashton, who told her Patterson had presented at approximately 8:05am.

“She (Ashton) reported she had asked Ms Patterson to come into one of the cubicles so she could be assessed and at that point, Ms Patterson wanted to leave the hospital. So she wasn’t able to be assessed at that time.

Dr Foote said Ashton asked her to go speak to Patterson because she didn’t want to stay at the hospital.

“She was on her way out. I talked to Ms Patterson and relayed our concerns for her health and the potential that she could be very unwell and it was our advice for her to stay and receive treatment,” Dr Foote said.

“She said she couldn’t stay at that time she had to go home to make arrangements for her animals and her children and that she would return

“I can’t recall (how long she said she would be gone) but I think she said she would be back within 30 minutes.”

CCTV footage was then shown to the court showing Dr Foote stepping in front of Patterson to prevent her from walking out of the door.

Dressed in a purple jumper, white trousers, sandals and a face mask, with a black back pack on, Patterson stood talking to Foote for a moment.

Ashton could then be seen walking over to Patterson and giving her a piece of paper.

Dr Foote told the court the piece of paper was a document which declared that Patterson was choosing to leave hospital against medical advice.

The CCTV then showed Patterson signing the paper before walking out of the facility.

After speaking to Patterson in the urgent care clinic, Dr Christopher Webster told the court he went back to treating Heather and Ian Wilkinson.

He said he later became aware from a nurse that Patterson had left the hospital against advice.

“I was surprised. I had just informed her she had potentially been exposed to death cap mushroom poisoning.,” he said.

“I rang her mobile phone three times and I left three voicemail messages.

“I was apologetic and informed the voicemail I would have to contact the police for her health and safety and bring her back to hospital.”

Dr Webster said he rang two of his bosses when attempts to get in contact with Patterson failed.

“I explained the situation and said I want to contact the police to get them to bring Erin back,” he said.

“I spoke to them because when you have to consider treating a patient against their will, it becomes a serious situation, and I wanted them to be informed before I did that.”

After speaking to two senior members of the health department, Dr Webster rang triple 0.

During the phone call, which was played in court, it was revealed Dr Webster told police Patterson left the hospital after just five minutes.

Monday July 31

Dr Webster:

“Hello, this is Dr Chris Webster calling from Leongatha hospital.

“I have concerns about a patient who presented here earlier and has left the hospital.

“I have tried several times to get her on the phone.”

The phone operator then asked Dr Webster for Patterson’s details, which he provided along with her home address.

Operator:

“Mushroom poisoning you said?”

Dr Webster:

“Yes, there are five people who ate a meal on Saturday and two of them are in intensive care.

“Erin presented this morning with symptoms of mushroom poisoning.

“It was time for the nurse to begin observations and I was managing the other critically ill patients.

“I had a brief conversation with her about where the mushrooms were obtained.

“When I was attending to the other patients, the nurse advised me that she had left.

“She was up here for five minutes.”

During evidence in chief, Dr Webster said he was busy attending to the Wilkinsons when he heard the buzzer ring at the urgent care centre, signalling someone had arrived at triage.

Dr Webster said he saw a woman waiting at the locked door and he apologised to her about the wait, explaining he was treating two very ill patients.

Dr Webster said the woman identified herself as Erin Patterson and she said she was suffering from gastro.

Dr Webster said he realised during their conversation that she was the chef of the lunch.

Dr Webster said he unlocked the door and brought Patterson into the urgent care clinic and they had a brief exchange.

“I said there is a concern of death cap mushroom poisoning, where did you get the mushrooms?”

“It was a single word response: ‘Woolworths’.

“Erin did not ask me any questions.

“I left when the triage nurse came over to commence the triage documentation (process).”

Matthew Patterson has told the court he rang his sister-in-law about 10.22am on 30 July, 2023 to ask her where she bought the mushrooms.

At that time, Matthew said he was in hospital with his sick parents, Don and Gail, and medical staff treating the couple were trying to determine how the mushrooms had been sourced.

During evidence in chief, Matthew explained his parents did not know where the mushrooms came from, so to answer the medics’ questions, he offered to ring Patterson on their behalf.

“I asked her how she was (because) Simon had mentioned she had been to hospital,” Matthew said.

“I can’t recall (what she said) but it was a polite answer.

“I then asked where the mushrooms had been sourced from.

“She said there were fresh mushrooms from Woolies and dried mushrooms from a Chinese shop in the Oakleigh area (of Melbourne).”

Matthew said the conversation was brief and when it ended he passed on the information provided by Patterson to medical staff.

During cross-examination, Patterson’s defence team put it to Matthew that Patterson seemed trying to recall where she had purchased the mushrooms during their phone conversation.

Defence: “We know the call was a brief one, lasting 1 minute and 15 seconds..

“That was a friendly phone call but you were calling for a purpose.”

Matthew: “Yes.”

Defence: “So after a polite greeting, you moved to the purpose of the phone call quickly?”

Matthew: “Yes.”

Defence: “(And) she was trying to recall the answers (about the mushrooms) to you?”

Matthew: “Correct.”

The court has heard Patterson sought advice from her brother-in-law on marriage counselling.

Matthew Patterson, Simon’s younger brother, told the court he was invited by Patterson to a lunch at her home to discuss her marriage.

The court heard she expressed to Matthew at the lunch that she was sad with how her marriage with Simon was progressing and she only wanted to move forward if they sought counselling.

Under questioning by the defence, Matthew confirmed Patterson asked him for advice on how to encourage his brother to proceed with taking up counselling.

Matthew also told the court Patterson and Simon appeared to be amicable and friendly following their separation and that his sister-in-law seemed to have a good relationship with his parents.

He also confirmed Patterson and Simon had loaned him and his wife hundreds of thousands of dollars to go towards his home, which he repaid solely to Patterson when she separated from his brother in 2015.

Dubois said she had known Patterson since she married her cousin, Simon, in 2007.

She described her and Patterson as “acquaintances” who would say “hi and that’s it” if they passed each other.

Dubois said she was having lunch at her parent’s place when her mother told her she had been invited to eat at Patterson’s home.

Alison told the court her mother said Patterson had come up to her and Gail while the two sisters were at church and invited them to her home.

“And I responded, ‘really?’ because it was not something I would imagine,” Dubois said.

“In response to my reaction, she said ‘yes, we were surprised also’.

“That had never happened before.”

She then called Simon and after their discussion, she packed up and rushed to Leongatha hospital to see them.

While there, Dubois said her parents expressed concern for Patterson.

“They asked how Erin was,’ she said.

“They talked about their concern that Erin might be going to hospital as a precaution as she had eaten the same meal.

“So they felt she should be there being observed also.”

Simon’ sister, Anna Terrington, has become emotional while giving evidence.

Anna told the court her mother told her about the lunch invitation a few days before the gathering at Patterson’s home.

Anna said it seemed unusual Heather and Ian had been invited as they had not been invited to Patterson’s place before.

About 5pm on July 29, 2023, a few hours after the lunch, Anna called her mother to ask how it went.

Recalling their conversation, Anna was overcome by emotion.

“She said they had beef wellington,” she said, fighting back tears.

“And that it was too much for mum and so dad finished hers.”

Anna said her mother also told her that Simon had not attended the lunch and her parents’ did not say they were feeling unwell.

She told the court her brother, Simon, sent a Signal message to her and their other siblings the following day to let them know their parents were ill.

“(He said) mum and dad were in hospital at Korumburra,” she said.

“They had been experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea since midnight. Simon said Ian and Heather were at Leongatha Hospital experiencing similar symptoms.

“He said that Erin was experiencing diarrhoea but was soldiering on at home.”

Anna said Simon later informed her their parents were being transferred to Dandenong Hospital.

Anna said she rushed to the facility to visit them on Sunday evening, where she found Simon already there in the room with their father, Don.

Anna said she took her mother to the bathroom “many times” that night and they briefly discussed the reason for the lunch.

“She said that Erin had wanted to tell them about a medical issue she had,” Anna said.

Anna said her mother didn’t tell her what the medical issue was and she did not ask.

Anna said her parents had lunch with Erin on one earlier occasion in early 2023 and they did not fall sick.

The court heard Anna and Patterson were both pregnant at the same time and their children were born about three days apart, leading the pair to be referred to as ‘the twins’.

Anna said she had a close relationship with Patterson during their pregnancies and Patterson also did a Bible reading at her wedding.

Anna confirmed to the court that Patterson and Simon loaned her and her husband about $400,000 to go towards their family home.

She said the loan was indexed to inflation, but otherwise no interest was placed on the loan.

The court heard Anna’s repayments for the loan were made directly to Simon when he and Patterson separated in 2015.

The court has been read a statement from Danielle Romaines, the acting director of the Victorian Department of Health.

In her statement, Romaines said it was mandatory in Victoria for health officials to document cases of cancer.

Accordingly, she would expect someone who had been diagnosed with cancer would have a number of reports within the Victorian Department of Health database, Romaines said.

Romaines said a search of the register found ‘no entries’ under the name Erin Patterson with her date of birth.