Hospital put me in a bed smeared with blood
...and now I’ve had an HIV test
A hospital patient who discovered his bed was heavily smeared with a stranger’s blood is now being tested for HIV and other serious infections.
Paul Batty had spent 24 hours on the ward when a visitor spotted streaks of dried blood on his bed frame.
Lifting up his mattress, the 52year-old was horrified to see blood smeared across his bed – which a nurse told him may have come from emergency treatment in A&e.
He received an apology before being discharged from Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West yorkshire. The bed was then cleaned, but he was so concerned about picking up a serious infection he returned to have blood tests for HIV, and hepatitis A and B, which will have to be repeated in three months’ time.
He has also made a formal complaint to the hospital.
Mr Batty, a warehouse worker, was admitted to Pinderfields two weeks ago with stomach pains following a recent hip replacement. He said: ‘I was in that bed for 24 hours. My best friend had come with his wife and their pregnant daughter. It was his daughter who spotted the blood when I moved.
‘She said, “Is that your blood?” When I pulled back the mattress, that’s when I saw it all. She said she’d rather have her baby in the street than go there.
‘The more I thought about it, the more I realised how wrong it was.’
He added: ‘We still don’t know whose blood it was, how long it had been there or where it had come from. I filed a complaint because a medical professional recommended I do it. I don’t want to see anybody getting sacked, I just want to help other people and make sure no one experiences this again.
‘It’s important to make sure the environment is cleaned properly.’
Kate Firth, deputy director of nursing at Mid yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘We are extremely sorry for the experience Mr Batty had while being cared for at Pinderfields.
‘ The trolley in question was removed and thoroughly cleaned immediately [when] staff became aware. Maintaining a high level of cleanliness and hygiene is extremely important for us at all times.
‘Since this incident we have taken steps to ensure our support staff are fully reminded of the procedures and protocols they should adhere to.’