I’ll sue hospital over my Nikki’s death
Reality star’s mum hits out
EXCLUSIVE
DAN WARBURTON
THE devastated mum of tragic Nikki Grahame is considering legal action after a probe into the reality star’s death cleared medics of any failings.
Susan Grahame criticised the nurses who discharged Nikki, 38, just 24 hours before she lost her battle with anorexia.
She told how she begged them not to release the frail Big Brother contestant, who passed away alone at her North London home.
An internal review by Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said it had “not identified any shortfalls in care which might have influenced the outcome”.
But Susan, 67, said she may now take legal action to challenge the findings and force a fresh investigation into Nikki’s care.
“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she said.
Susan, from Bridport, Dorset, said Nikki “should never have been discharged” from hospital last April.
She claimed her daughter had collapsed in front of nurses just two days before leaving. And she accused doctors of being unable to cope with her care – claiming it was “too much trouble”.
Susan said: “I was there for two weeks with Nikki. Each day, I told the nurses she couldn’t go home.
“Her father David, who was dying at the time, told them if they let her go, she would die – and she did.
“She had a BMI of 10. Her skeleton was breaking up. But they let her go because she could walk up the stairs.
“Nikki was so determined, she would have crawled up those stairs.
“I was in despair when she was discharged. I said, ‘You can’t let her go – look at the state of her’.”
No inquest was required into Nikki’s death as a doctor recorded it was from anorexia.
Susan said: “When a doctor trains for seven years, he gets an hour-anda-half of training in eating disorders.
“Money needs to go into specialist training for this sort of thing. It’s key.”