A care worker, who believes a 91-year old patient was seriously neglected in an NHS hospital, has filed a formal complaint.
Joanne Connah, a Mencap support worker from Sudbury, accompanied the woman – who suffers from early onset dementia and bowel cancer – in her own time to West Suffolk Hospital last Thursday.
The lady was referred to the hospital after developing an infection but during her four and a half hour stay in the Accident and Emergency department, despite vomiting and being confused, “she was barely checked upon, had not seen a doctor and was not put on any fluids.”
The complainant also claims that the woman was not offered a drink, was left in a room without access to toilet facilities – despite her mobility problems – and didn’t have her temperature taken until three hours after her arrival.
Connah who has now lodged a formal complaint against the hospital said:
“(The patient) was seriously neglected by the staff at the hospital. They did not provide her with the level of care and respect she deserved and so desperately required. Instead they left a vulnerable, frail and scared 91-year-old lady to fend for herself.”
A spokesman for West Suffolk Hospital said that the complaint hadn’t yet been looked into as it had only recently been received but went on to say: “We take every complaint we receive seriously and will investigate fully.”