Hospital staff dumped dying man at bus stop

A dying man was discharged to a bus stop wearing pyjamas because Christchurch Hospital staff felt he was a ‘‘nuisance’’ and ‘‘faking’’ his illness.

Neil David Jones, 47, then lay on the footpath for six hours while members of the public tried to get doctors to help him.

He was eventually trespassed from the hospital and taken to a shelter, where he vomited blood.

An ambulance took him back to hospital, where he died two days later.

A coroner has blasted Jones’ care as an ‘‘appalling’’ failure, while his angry family say he was treated ‘‘worse than an animal’’.

‘‘You wouldn’t treat a dog like that would you,’’ his mother, Joan Jones, said.

Canterbury District Health Board chief executive David Meates , who has apologised personally to Jones’ family, admitted Coroner Michael Robb’s findings into the death made for ’’sobering reading’’.

The findings said Jones, 47, was admitted to Christchurch Hospital on October 8, 2013.

He was jaundiced and severely unwell due to a long battle with alcoholism.

Doctor Richard Geary determined he was well enough be discharged 20 days later, on October 28.

Robb determined the cause of Jones’ death on October 30 was alcoholic liver disease.

Robb said Dr Geary was convinced Jones was faking parts of his illness, including his incontinence, and was ‘‘looking for a free ride’’.

Robb criticised police for their lack of investigation into the circumstances that led to Jones’ trespass from Christchurch Hospital, including why his conduct was a ‘‘nuisance’’ to patients and staff.

Karen Jones said the family was ‘‘pretty disgusted’’ with the way her brother was treated.

‘‘It was the way they just threw him out and discarded him, they treated him worse than an animal.

‘‘It was just disgusting and appalling,’’ she said.