BROKEN BRITAIN
» Hospital patient left in agony calls 999 from his ward » Doc says Martin is ‘most neglected’ case he’s ever seen
A PENSIONER left writhing in agony told how he had to dial 999 from his NHS hospital bed as there were no doctors to give him pain relief.
Martin Wild was admitted with a spinal infection but stretched medics were too busy to see him, an inquiry found.
He got so desperate he even resorted to ringing the hospital reception to try to get medication.
One consultant declared the 73-year-old was the most neglected patient he had seen.
Martin’s ordeal went on for eight months. He said: “I asked for some pain relief.
“They said, ‘We’ve got no powers to prescribe [an opioid].’ I asked, ‘Can you get a doctor?’ They said, ‘They’re busy with over 100 patients, you’re not a priority.’ I was in agony so I phoned 999.
“I was lying in bed for over a week before I saw a consultant.
“I could hear people shouting and screaming for help.”
Martin told the Mirror last night: “It was a combination of a lack of staff and people who were trained but really chasing around.
“Others who were not trained were trying to do the best they could. My two vertebrae collapsed into each other. I was in so much pain. I lost three and a half stone and had four ops.”
Martin, of Manchester, was admitted to Salford Royal Hospital on May 8 last year after his spine became infected following an operation. He was later discharged, despite telling staff he was not well enough. Days later, Martin was back in the hospital.
He added: “I was in so much pain, I was shaking. But nobody seemed to bother. I told my wife Lorraine, ‘I can’t stand it any more. If I am going to die in hospital, let it be soon.”
Former nurse Lorraine said: “There were three full bottles of urine on his table with his food. One morning he spilled one and he was served breakfast and lunch while lying in a urine soaked bed.”
Consultant Glyn Smurthwaite was called to assess Martin after he was moved to a different ward in September. He said: “He was the most neglected patient I have ever seen in an acute setting in my 38 years in the profession.”
One member of staff said they had seen “dead patients looking better” than Martin, who was finally discharged in January. It comes as the NHS struggles under the weight of Tory cuts. Dr Smurthwaite said: “The NHS has been underinvested in for 14 years, you generate a system that becomes unsafe.” The inquiry into Martin’s case found there was no consultant to look after him for months.
Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, ruled Martin had been caused “serious harm” and apologised.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it was “sorry for what Mr Wild had to endure”.
I was in so much pain. But nobody seemed to bother
MARTIN WILD ON HIS NHS HOSPITAL HORROR