Hospitals are treating the elderly ‘like animals’, according to a shock investigation.
Patients in their 80s and 90s have reportedly been left without pain relief, unable to wash themselves and stuck in dirty sheets in overwhelmed NHS wards.
In one of the most harrowing examples, a 96-year-old man admitted to hospital with a UTI was allegedly left delirious in his hospital bed – before choking on vomit after being sedated without his family’s permission.
Meanwhile, a 99-year-old woman was left traumatized after being left in a bed next to the body of a dead woman.
A doctor told The independentwho carried out the inquiry, that ‘unworthy’ treatment was ‘symptomatic of a healthcare system stretched to its limits’.
In one case, Thomas Giles (pictured), 96, was reportedly left ‘exposed to all passers-by, sick, half-naked, distressed, wild and neglected’ during his two-month stay at Whiston Hospital in Lancashire. According to his daughter, Dr. Alison Giles, he initially spent eight hours in a hospital corridor before being moved to the frail elderly ward. He suffered ‘delirium’ due to a UTI
In another case, 99-year-old Kathleen Hoddell (pictured) went to emergency at Queens Hospital Burton in Derbyshire in early 2022 for a fractured spine, weeks after she was reportedly sent home with just two paracetamols. The following morning, her daughter Sally Ann Newstead claimed she found her mother with no pain medication, no staff on the ward and forced to sit next to a dead woman
Experts fear the situation will only get worse, with increasing numbers of patients suffering long delays or forced to sit on trolleys in hospital corridors while waiting for a bed.
The government was warned three times last year by coroners about the risk to elderly patients at the hospital, The Independent reported.
In a report on preventing future deaths, a coroner said there was an urgent need for more doctors to specialize in elderly care.
Another warned that delayed discharges – so-called ‘bed blockers’, when patients are declared healthy by doctors but not discharged – put the elderly at greater risk.
The paper also found that over half of the 1.5 million patients who were left waiting more than 12 hours to be seen in emergency departments last year in England were aged 70 and over.
Dr. John Dean, clinical vice-president at the Royal College of Physicians, said the situation was ‘heartbreaking’.
He added: “Cases like these are unacceptable and are sadly symptomatic of a health service stretched to its limits.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, that the care of older people was ‘undignified’.
Dr. Vicky Price, president-elect of the Society for Acute Medicine, added: “Older patients are increasingly receiving care far below the standards they should expect and which staff want to provide but cannot because of the intense pressure.
“This includes being exposed to long wait times in waiting rooms and demeaning corridor care, which are unfortunately becoming more prevalent and increasing the likelihood of adverse outcomes for this patient population.”
In one case, Thomas Giles, 96, was reportedly left ‘exposed to all passers-by, sick, half-naked, distressed, wild and neglected in care’ during his two-month stay at Whiston Hospital in Lancashire.
According to his daughter, Dr. Alison Giles, he initially spent eight hours in a hospital corridor before being moved to the frail elderly ward. He suffered ‘delirium’ due to a UTI.
Within a week, she also claimed he was drugged without his family’s permission, which saw him choking on his own vomit and left with a bandage that was “soggy and coming off because it’s so saturated”.
She also claimed that Mr Giles has told her that “some of the staff here are cruel” and “I’ve never felt so hopeless”. She said he was ‘treated like an animal’.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust said: ‘Where patients do not feel our care has been good enough, we encourage them to come forward and raise these concerns directly with the trust.
“We have been in ongoing contact with Mr Giles and his family and will respond fully to the concerns they have raised.”
In another case, 99-year-old Kathleen Hoddell went to emergency at Queens Hospital Burton in Derbyshire in early 2022 for a fractured spine, weeks after she was reportedly sent home with just two paracetamols.
Martin Wild was admitted to Salford Royal Hospital last year after developing a spinal infection following a private operation. The 73-year-old was denied pain relief due to staff shortages and was even left lying in his own urine during his terrifying eight-month hospital stay, he claimed. Other patients nearby also shouted and screamed for help
At one point Mr Wild, who also has Parkinson’s, told his wife: ‘If I’m going to die in this hospital, let it be soon.’ A doctor who assessed Mr Wild described him as being ‘the most neglected patient I have ever seen’
In a grim incident, he also knocked one of the three full bottles of urine on his table onto his bed after shaking so much in pain. Sir. Wild claimed he was left in urine-soaked sheets for hours before they were finally changed
The following morning, her daughter Sally Ann Newstead claimed she found her mother with no pain medication, no staff on the ward and forced to sit next to a dead woman.
She added: ‘There were no curtains. She (the dead woman) was just there. My mother had been sitting out in a chair and she was just beside herself. She was just shaking, freezing cold, she had nothing on her feet.’
Just days later, Newstead also allegedly received a call from his mother at the ward saying: ‘You’ve got to get me out of here’ and ‘I’d feel better at the vet’.
Garry Marsh, executive lead nurse for Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “We would like to apologize again that in this case we did not meet the standards we strive for.”
He said the trust had taken family feedback seriously and had since changed its processes to plan staffing levels based on the particular needs of patients on the wards.
Experts have long warned the situation will only get worse, with the ailing NHS stuck in an ‘eternal winter’ amid staff shortages and unprecedented demand.
Fresh data released in February also revealed the ‘screaming’ state of the NHS, withmore than 40 per cent of patients who went to emergency departments last year in England waited at least four hours to be seen.
That equates to around 900,000 each month, marking a fivefold increase over a decade.
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At that time, Dr. Boyle told MailOnline: ‘This data shows clearly how badly things have gone over the last decade for patients going to emergency departments and for those who work in them.
“Too many people have to stay too long.
‘Long stays are not just inconvenient or boring, they are harmful, especially for older people.’
Last week, a pensioner who was left in excruciating pain also told how he had to call 999 from his own hospital bed for help.
Martin Wild was admitted to Salford Royal Hospital last year after developing a spinal infection following a private operation.
The 73-year-old was denied pain relief due to staff shortages and was even left lying in his own urine during his terrifying eight-month hospital stay, he claimed. Other patients nearby also shouted and screamed for help.
At one point Mr Wild, who also has Parkinson’s, told his wife: ‘If I’m going to die in this hospital, let it be soon.’
A doctor who assessed Mr Wild described him as being ‘the most neglected patient I have ever seen’.
An investigation by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, found his care caused him ‘serious harm’ and apologized for its failings.