Family claims hospital neglect over two deaths

Jul 7 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

A WIRRAL hospital is investigating claims by a family that a father and uncle died within days of each other as a result of neglect.

John Ryan, 68, died on Saturday June 16, in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital following treatment at Arrowe Park Hospital where his brother in law, Peter Doyle, had died.

Mr Ryan’s daughter Helen, of Grafton Drive, Upton, has met Len Richards, the chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

But she says many questions about her father and uncle’s treatment remain unanswered.

John Ryan was admitted to Arrowe Park last year for an operation on his gall bladder and at first seemed to make a good recovery. It was later found, while in hospital in Liverpool, that he had pancreatic cancer.

The former Army PT instructor was operated on again and appeared to be well, but in February this year suffered more stomach pains.

He was admitted to Arrowe Park where his daughter said they did not appear to be aware he was almost blind, and his food and tablets were regularly left on his bedside table where he was unable to see them.

Miss Ryan said he was left in pain and hospital staff refused his pleas for extra medication – but it was later discovered on two occasions the equipment providing pain relief was not working.

She said: “He was in agony there, but when he requested extra pain relief they did nothing – they kept saying it was too soon. But on numerous occasions they were running late in giving out medication.”

She said he was later transferred to St Johns Hospice and then to Liverpool where they discovered from scans taken at Arrowe Park that he also had a kidney stone.

She said he was given “excellent” care at the hospice and the hospital in Liverpool before he died of pneumonia.

She said: “They treated him as though he had terminal cancer but kept telling us they weren’t sure what was wrong with him. If they had treated him better he might have been able to have chemotherapy”

Around the same time, Miss Ryan’s uncle had been suffering from dizziness and insomnia and was thought to be suffering from flu.

Miss Doyle said: “There is neglect in general. Peter had been to the out of hours GP service, his own GP and paramedics had come out twice but no one found what was wrong with him.”

It was only after the 61-year-old was found collapsed at his home in Woodchurch that he was admitted to Arrowe Park where his niece and sister, Helen Ryan’s mother Catherine, visited him.

They found him on a trolley in A&E seven hours after he had been admitted and later that evening he suffered several cardiac arrests and died. The cause was later found to be a blood clot.

Just a few days later, both also saw Mr Ryan die despite him seeming to improve only days before.

Helen Ryan said she had been leafleting others in a bid to stop anyone else going through what they have.

She said: “Some of the care my dad and Peter received from Arrowe Park was excellent, but it seems to be the ward they are on. We have quite a response from the leaflets.

“We have had umpteen emails from people and even from someone who worked at the hospital, saying we should see the staff’s side of the story.”

A spokeswoman for the hospital said: “Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust would like to reiterate its sincere condolences to the family.

“The Trust is committed to delivering the highest standards of care at all times. Len Richards, chief executive, has met at length with relatives of the two patients and is examining their concerns. He will share his findings with them at the earliest opportunity.

“The Trust’s duty to uphold patient confidentiality prevents it from commenting publicly about any aspect of a person’s care.”

liammurphy