Dying woman ‘neglected’ at King’s Lynn hospital
A grieving woman has criticised Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital for the care her terminally-ill sister received in her final days.
Eileen Hartley has accused the hospital of “neglecting” her late sister Linda Stark after claiming there was not enough staff to look after her properly.
She said her sister was bedridden and extremely frail, having been admitted to the hospital’s Oxborough Ward weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer and given six months to live.
She said she became very frightened when moved from her bed, yet she was left crying in a chair for two hours as there was not enough staff to move her back to her bed.
Mrs Hartley, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, said: “She cried and cried to be put back but she was just left for two hours.”
Mrs Stark, 65, of Newgate Road, Tydd St Giles, died at the hospital on November 29, but Mrs Hartley is also upset that it took the hospital 11 hours to inform her that her sister had passed away.
Mrs Hartley has tried to complain to the hospital and the NHS Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) to find out why her sister was left in a chair for so long but was told she needed her sister’s permission to obtain information.
Mrs Hartley said: “I didn’t ask for medical information, I just want to know why she was left, but I keep being fobbed off. When I phoned the ward a nurse said she’d been out of her bed between noon and 2pm as if it was a good thing. Then she said ‘I’m sorry.’ Another time I was told it was because there wasn’t enough staff to put her back. You can understand the pressure they’re under but it’s not good enough.”
Gwyneth Wilson, the hospital’s director of patient experience, said: “We are very sorry to hear Mrs Hartley has concerns regarding her sister’s care but unfortunately she was not nominated by her sister as her next of kin. Our communication had to take place with Mrs Stark’s son, who she had chosen to be the point of contact for the family. We have to respect the patient’s wishes.”
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Weather for King's Lynn
Saturday 25 May 2013
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