Family makes official complaint after 91-year-old man dies after two nights in A&E

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

The family of a 91-year-old man who died after he was made to wait in a hospital waiting room for two nights have made an official complaint to the health board involved.

The daughter and son-in-law of David Edward Roberts from Rhuddlan have lodged a formal complaint with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board over his treatment and discharge from Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in late January.

Mr Roberts attended A&E on 30 January after his GP flagged “very concerning” blood test results and said he required “urgent hospital admission”.

The family says the GP advised it would be quicker to drive him themselves, despite living 44 miles away in Frodsham, Cheshire.

After arriving at the hospital at 8.15pm, the family says they were told the wait to see a doctor would be 16 hours.

Mr Roberts was described as “extremely vulnerable”, suffering from type two diabetes, severe kidney disease, significant hearing impairment, incontinence, and very poor eyesight.

The family claim he was triaged at 9.15pm before blood was taken at 12.15am, but Mr Roberts wasn’t seen by a doctor until 10.15am the following morning.

In a letter of complaint written by Mike and Karen Gadsby, the family said: “Throughout this time, he remained in the waiting area with no option of a bed. We requested somewhere more suitable for him to wait and were offered a vacant doctor’s room, which, although private, was still highly unsuitable for a frail, elderly man in his condition.”

When eventually seen, the family claimed, the doctor initially said Mr Roberts could go home, but then returned minutes later insisting he needed to remain in hospital. No beds were available, so he was kept in a wheelchair near the toilets.

The family said: “Due to his incontinence, we had to remain near toilet facilities, with no dignity or privacy.”

Blood tests

Mr Roberts was then given antibiotics and had further blood tests before doctors agreed he needed to remain in hospital overnight.

The letter of complaint went on: “Again, there were no beds available. We managed to obtain a reclining chair in an attempt to make him more comfortable, and he was moved to a corridor alongside several other patients awaiting beds. He received further antibiotics there.

“At 8.00am on Sunday morning – after we had all been in A&E since 8.00pm on Friday evening without sleep – the consultant informed us that David could be discharged.

“Prior to discharge, we made it clear to the doctor that noone would be staying with David once he returned home. We explained that we would need to leave him in order to return to our own home to take our medication and (we) live an hour away. Despite this, he was discharged without additional support, monitoring, or follow-up arrangements being put in place.

“We settled David at home and advised him to rest. We then returned home to take our vital medication and sleep – we are pensioners ourselves.

“The following day, when we arrived to take David to a pre-arranged foot clinic appointment, we found him unresponsive in bed, foaming at the mouth, with his eyes closed and breathing very faintly. We immediately called 999 and were instructed to begin CPR until paramedics arrived. He was rushed to hospital on Monday lunchtime but sadly passed away at 6.00pm on Tuesday evening.”

‘Wholly inadequate’

The letter added: “We believe the duty of care provided to David, particularly given his age, frailty, and complex medical conditions, was wholly inadequate. We are deeply distressed that he was discharged without appropriate safeguards despite our explicit statement that he would be alone.”

The family has now requested a full investigation into the care and decision-making surrounding his treatment and discharge.

They’ve also asked for confirmation of what risk assessment was undertaken before Mr Roberts’ release.

The family said a post mortem has revealed Mr Roberts died of a heart problem but added they are yet to hear from the health board.

Chris Lynes, deputy executive director of nursing and midwifery at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We would like to extend our sincere condolences to Mr Roberts’ family at this very difficult time. Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on the specific details of an individual patient’s care.

“However, we take concerns of this nature very seriously and will ensure the issues raised are fully investigated. We will be contacting the family directly to discuss their concerns further.”

The complaint follows patients at Glan Clwyd’s A&E department witnessing an elderly woman dying alone in the corridor last week.