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Premature death of my wife

Posted By tobyjug

"Premature death of my wife"

About: Royal Blackburn Hospital / Older people's healthcare

(as a relative),

My wife was admitted to Blackburn Royal Hospital in 2013, and she was in only 7 days and in my view they let her die, they withdrew her medication, food and water and even put her on the LCP without any discussions with myself or my family. They falsified records (which they have admitted to). I received 2 statements from 2 doctors which I think are false and I think can be proven they are false.

We were told they would do a external independent investigation but this ended up only a review by a nurse who actually works at the hospital. In this review she finds many wrong doings but amazingly concludes she can find no negligence even though she states that the records have been falsified.

Many more things I could go on with but will it do any good as it appears that they will tell falsehoods to back themselves up. These people who are paid to save lives and give care should be made accountable for their actions.

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Responses

Response from Meg Davey, Head of Patient Experience, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 9 years ago
Meg Davey
Head of Patient Experience,
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 09/05/2014 at 13:09
Published on Care Opinion at 13:16

Dear Toby Jug,

Although we cannot comment in too much detail on a public website, we are aware of the details of your wife’s care. We again offer our sincere sympathy to you and the family on your very sad loss.

It is always distressing when a dearly loved family member passes away, and where our patient is very, very ill and not likely to recover, our nurses and doctors respect wishes for no further treatment, and do everything they can to make the patient comfortable and have a peaceful death.

We did carry out an internal independent investigation and are sorry to say that we found some examples of poor record keeping, and our high standards of safe, personal and effective care not being met. We accept that communication with you could have been better, and we could have been more aware of your needs in understanding the severity of the patient’s condition, and we are very sorry for this.

We can state that no records or statements were falsified, and its our view that we did not refuse treatment, or care. Often the management of end of life care for patients and relatives is a careful balance.

We are really sorry that you feel so let down and are still not satisfied. Please contact me if you wish to on 01254 733698, as I am happy to talk this through with you. It will be easier to go into more detail in person.

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Response from Royal Blackburn Hospital 9 years ago
Royal Blackburn Hospital

Submitted on 10/11/2014 at 10:02
Published on nhs.uk on 13/11/2014 at 03:01

Dear Sir Many thanks for your feedback on one of our services and apologies for only now responding as NHS Choices did not advise me of your comment on their website for me to reply to. I am very sorry to hear that your experience of our care for your wife in 2013 wasn't what you expected as we always strive to deliver safe, personal & effective care. From the comments that you make I am assuming that your concerns were initially dealt with through our complaints department and perhaps contacting them again if you were unhappy with the outcome from this may be a way forward? The team can be reached through our Customer Relations team on 01254 733700 or complaints@elht.nhs.uk who can advise you of your options in raising these concerns further. Hoping this helps Wendy Stobbs, Patient Experience Facilitator (wendy.stobbs@elht.nhs.uk )

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