Son denied access to his dying father in hospital bungle Apology after medics wrongly believed anti-harassment order had been issued
ABIRMINGHAM hospital trust has offered a grieving son £1,000 and an apology after he missed his father’s final moments due to an administrative bungle
Cab driver Andrew McKelt was advised not to visit dying father Mac at Good Hope Hospital because medics wrongly believed a police order was in place, preventing him from approaching the gravely ill patient. Staff later failed to inform him of the death.
An entry on his father’s medical notes stated that staff had been informed by a family member: “There is a harassment order against patient’s son, Mr McKelt, police are involved. No details are to be passed on. If Mr McKelt comes on to the ward then staff must contact security or the police ASAP.”
Mac died on April 8 last year but his son was only given the news on May 4 by the police, not the hospital, and even missed his funeral.
Heart of England NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has now apologised for the blunder and offered Mr McKelt a £1,000 “ex gratia” payment, which Mr McKelt has dubbed an insult. He has now contacted his own MP Gisela Stuart over the case.
The 53-year-old said: “They refused to let me see my dad. They refused to tell me how ill he was.
“He’d been dead for three weeks before I found out. Wouldn’t you be bloody angry? I’ve been treated like a criminal.
“I’ve had to be treated for depression over this. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep.”
In a lengthy document Heart of England repeatedly apologises and admits it believed a harassment order was in place preventing him from seeing his dying dad.
It also admits not contacting the police to confirm the information.
Mr McKelt stressed that he and Mac, who died from dementia at the age of 89, had a close relationship. “He was my dad,” he said. “If we didn’t get on, I wouldn’t have come here to be near him, would I?
“He was a loving man; he would give you the shirt off his back; he was an old-school gentleman.”
Mr McKelt moved from his home in Cromer, Norfolk, in 2013, to help care for his ailing father, a former engineer. In the following year, he was interviewed by police at his Bartley Green home about an allegation that he had rifled £15,000 from Mac’s account but no further action was taken.
In February 2016, police notified Mr McKelt that an allegation of harassment had been made against him. He claims that an officer advised him to stay away from his father’s flat, but again no further action was taken. He says the complaint was made after he sent a birthday card.
“I have never been a violent man. I’m a very easy going bloke,” said Mr McKelt. “The sum total of my criminal record is a few speeding tickets.
“To this day, I don’t know the full nature of the allegation – or who made it.”
In a letter of apology to Mr McKelt, the health trust now concedes: “Police have confirmed there was no harassment or restraining order in place relating to allegations of harassment, although you were issued with a police information notice in February 2016, which notified you that an allegation of harassment had been made against you. However, this police information notice was a warning and not a criminal order, and there were no restrictions in place.”
In a letter dated September 15, 2016, the trust accepts that was an error – and has apologised. They admit : “We have concluded staff should have confirmed the information regarding the harassment/ restraining order, and any other associated restrictions with the police.
“We have now spoken with the detective who has confirmed that at no point during your father’s admission to hospital did he receive any phone calls from hospital staff requesting clarification on the alleged order. We apologise that this was not done.”
Mr McKelt’s MP, Gisela Stuart, said: “The hospital does not come out of it well. They got it wrong. But they have had the decency to put their hands up and admit the mistakes.
“The next step is to ask them what, as a result of this, they are now doing differently.”