Grandad was left on a chair for 11hrs before he died... it’s inhumane
Family’s fury as hospital leaves 83-year-old Bryan in corridor
THE family of an 83-year-old man left on a chair in a hospital corridor for 11 hours claim an “appalling” lack of care led to his death.
Grandfather-of-four Bryan Fulstow died at Hull Royal Infirmary on November 15.
The pensioner had been taken to A&E six days earlier with suspected sepsis, before being moved to the frailty assessment ward, then on to a chair while waiting for a bed.
Bryan’s son Steve has branded the care he received “inhumane”.
And he challenged hospital managers to justify leaving a severely sick, elderly man alone.
Bryan’s wife of 59 years, Barbara, was left “heartbroken” by his death, Steve added.
Bryan, a dad of three and retired maintenance engineer from Kirk Ella, near Hull, had to
AT FOOTBALL Steve with his dad Bryan wait two and a half hours for an ambulance after becoming seriously unwell.
Steve said Bryan had previously not had any serious medical conditions, but became delirious, thin and developed a raging temperature.
After a day on the frailty unit, Bryan was transferred to a ward despite there being no beds available.
The decision, Steve says he was told by senior staff members, was made under a new model that involves moving patients from A&E on to acute wards “regardless of whether there are any beds”.
The model was implemented by selected NHS Trusts this autumn in order to deal with severe delays over the winter.
It follows a trial at North Bristol NHS Trust in August.
Steve said: “He sat in a corridor with hundreds of people walking past and a catheter stuck on him for 11 hours. Where is the dignity in that?”
After the wait, Steve said Bryan was put into a cubicle on his own. His son added: “I think that had a big role to play in his death. If he wasn’t in a room on his own there would have been people there to help him.
“He was starting to improve. The next thing we had a call to say he had a fall. He’d hit his head and that’s what the medical examiner’s office said had killed him.”
A spokeswoman for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Although we are unable to comment on individual cases, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family of Mr Fulstow.
“We can confirm our Patients Advice and Liaison Service has received Mr Fulstow’s concerns and an investigation is now under way. Our senior nursing team will report back directly to the family at the conclusion of the investigation.”
He was sat with a catheter on him as people walked past... where is the dignity in that?
STEVE FULSTOW