Dying gran ‘stripped of dignity by hospital’
FAMILY DEMAND ANSWERS FROM HEALTH CHIEFS OVER CANCER PATIENT ‘WHO SAID TREATMENT HAD LEFT HER FRIGHTENED’
A DYING woman was ‘frightened,’ left waiting hours for treatment and stripped of her dignity in a flagship hospital, her family say.
Sandra Davies’ relatives say the 68-year-old gran’s care was a ‘shambles’ and she suffered a ‘lack of compassion’ during the 16 days she spent on medical ward at Salford Royal.
Her family say staff lacked empathy and ‘were careless and forgetful and denied Mrs Davies dignity.’
Mrs Davies, who had multiple myeloma was admitted to hospital with chronic back pain on January 1 and died on February 6.
The hospital, which has been rated outstanding by inspectors, have apologised to the family and say they have made improvements after investigating the case.
The family asked Salford Royal bosses to investigate:
- Why Mrs Davies was moved on to a mixed medical ward at 2am when she had low immunity to infection.
- Why she once had to wait two hours for pain relief, when in agony.
- Why the medical notes of a male patient were mistakenly placed at her bed, causing confusion.
- An alleged two-day delay in being given two pints of blood.
- Claims the side room she was placed in was not cleaned for days.
- Why a request by Mrs Davies to go to the toilet was ignored, leaving her no option but to soil the bed.
- Why a dressing for a severe bed sore was not changed regularly.
Sandra’s husband, John, 69, said: “She said to me while she was on ward M2 that she was scared. No one should feel that way in hospital.
“I want someone to take responsibility for what has happened, and say sorry for what she went through.
“It was the lack of compassion that upset me. The standard of care was poor – it was a shambles. Yet when she was moved to haematology, where she had been treated before when first diagnosed, it could not have been better.
“We are not interested in compensation. We just want improvements so this does not happen to anyone else.”
In a letter the trust said they hoped the investigation would be concluded by February 22, but the family have yet to be told the outcome.
Peter Murphy, director of nursing at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have met with the family on a number of occasions. We are in ongoing contact with them both to apologise for her poor experience and explore the issues they have raised.
“We are an organisation which seeks to learn from our patients – in particular when their experience is not as we would wish. As a result of Mrs Davies’ experience there have been a number of changes and improvements made to the clinical area.”