Dementia patient taken 300 miles away from family

AN 89-year-old dementia patient was driven 300 miles away from his family owing to a lack of specialist care beds.

Derek Jewson, who also has chronic heart disease, was taken from his home in Cornwall to the nearest available bed in Northampton. His family claimed he was too frail to make the journey, and that he had to be admitted to A&E shortly after arriving.

Since being transferred a week ago, his family have only been able to make the 600-mile round trip once because of other commitments.

Mr Jewson’s son, Kurt, 47, said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think he would be moved out of Cornwall – I had to Google ‘Northampton’ to find out where it was.”

Kurt says his father, a former Metropolitan Police motorcycle rider and lighthouse keeper from Porthleven, Cornwall, was already in frail health before making the five-hour journey last Saturday. His family had taken the grandfather to Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro, and his family were told to “expect the worst”.

Kurt said: “Sometimes my dad’s the nicest granddad in the world, at other times he’s confused and does not know what is going on. He arrived in Northampton on Saturday evening and complained of pains so was taken to A&E. We were told to expect the worst but he seems to have rallied.”

In a statement, the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said it was “committed to providing care for people in Cornwall whenever it is safe and we have the appropriate facilities to do so. Unfortunately, on this occasion, we had to find a bed outside Cornwall”.