A grandmother suffered dehydration and died after hospital nurses failed to give her enough water to drink.
Irene Seddon, 75, developed kidney failure because she was deprived of sufficient fluids for more than a week over the Christmas holidays.
Her health deteriorated at Whiston Hospital in Merseyside and she picked up a fatal case of pneumonia, dying five weeks later in February 2006.
Hospital chiefs have admitted their care fell below ?acceptable standards? and have paid Mrs Seddon?s family a five-figure sum in compensation.
Following a long-awaited inquest into the retired shop assistant?s death, her daughter, Pamela Moorst, 51, said: ?The way she was looked after was appalling. It was Christmas and they were on skeleton staff.
?We kept telling the nurses that she could not swallow and was dehydrated ? but nobody seemed to be bothered.
?We believe if those first five days of care had been better our mum would still be here today.?
The hearing comes a month after a report revealed that more than 1 000 British patients are dying of dehydration or malnutrition every year.
The Mail has long called for better care of patients in old age as part of our Dignity for the Elderly campaign.
Dr Grahame Wood, a renal consultant at Salford Royal Hospital, Greater Manchester, was asked by Mrs Seddon?s family to assess her case.
He told the inquest that the hospital?s failure to give Mrs Seddon, of St Helens, enough water was ?profound and avoidable? and ?contributed to her death in a number of ways?.
Dr Wood said the kidney failure had weakened her to the extent that she could not fight off infection when it took hold. Mrs Seddon?s primary cause of death was recorded as pneumonia, with acute kidney failure as the secondary factor.
Following her death, Mrs Moorst and her sister, Glenda Barrow, 58, were determined that a formal inquest be held into their mother?s death.
Coroner Christopher Sumner adjourned the hearing until next month for a narrative verdict.
Mrs Moorst said: ?My mum was not an ill lady. She had been shopping a few days before she was taken into hospital.
?They (the hospital) are trying to paint a picture of this frail, ill woman but that?s just not how she was.
?Sometimes I think to myself ?what if mum had not gone to hospital that day and we had got a district nurse to treat her. Would she still be here today??? A spokesman for the hospital insisted staff cover during holiday periods and weekends had changed since Mrs Seddon?s death.
?Although Mrs Seddon?s death was due to her underlying illness, we accepted the standard of care provided at the time could have been improved,? she said.
?Appropriate action was taken to address the family?s concerns. We have expressed our sincere condolences and apologised.?
Howard Nulty, Mrs Moorst?s solicitor, said: ?My clients didn?t take legal action for the money, all they wanted was assurances that it wouldn?t happen to anyone else?s mother or father.
?But even at the inquest this week, the hospital?s complaints manager said she could only hope elderly patients would be given proper food and water, she couldn?t guarantee it. It?s scandalous in this day and age.? ? Daily Mail
Tags: Thirst
Source: http://superrichdad.com/thirst-gran-was-left-to-die-of-thirst/
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