Gosport War Memorial Hospital patients were given wrong medication

3:34pm Monday 20th April 2009

By Echo Reporter

THREE out of 10 elderly patients who died at a hospital were given inappropriate medication, an inquest jury ruled today.

The panel of five women and three men spent four weeks at Portsmouth Coroner's Court looking at how the 10 died at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hampshire more than 10 years ago.

They ruled that in the cases of Robert Wilson, Elsie Devine and Geoffrey Packman the medication was not appropriate for their condition and symptoms but had been given for therapeutic reasons.

They also ruled that medication had contributed to the death of Elsie Lavender and Arthur Cunningham (known as Brian) but had been given for therapeutic reasons and was appropriate for their condition.

The jury ruled that medication had not contributed to the deaths of the other five patients, who were Leslie Pittock, Helena Service, Ruby Lake, Enid Spurgin and Sheila Gregory.

The hearings had to be given special permission by Justice Secretary Jack Straw because seven of the bodies have since been cremated.

The inquest heard that each of the 10 patients went to the hospital for palliative care but died while at the community hospital.

The jury heard evidence from members of the patients' families, medical experts and staff at the hospital, including Dr Jane Barton.

She was the only individual to be investigated by police in connection with deaths at the hospital but she was not charged with any offence.

Hampshire Police carried out a series of investigations into the treatment of 92 patients at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital in the late 1990s but no action was taken.

The families of those who died believe that sedatives such as diamorphine were over-prescribed at the hospital and this led to the deaths of their relatives, who were receiving recuperative care.

The inquests were into the deaths of Arthur Cunningham, 79, from Gosport who died on September 26 1998; Elsie Devine, 88, on November 21 1999; Sheila Gregory, 91, of Gosport, on November 22 1999 and Ruby Lake, 84, of Gosport, on August 21 1998.

The other deaths are of Elsie Lavender, 83, of Gosport, on March 6 1996; Geoffrey Packman, 67, of Emsworth, on September 3 1999; Leslie Pittock, 82, on January 24 1996; Helena Service, 99, of Gosport, on June 5 1997; Enid Spurgin, 92, of Gosport, on April 13 1999, and Robert Wilson, 74, of Sarisbury Green, on October 18 1998.

Speaking outside the court, the families of some of the patients called for the police investigation into deaths at the hospital to be reopened.

Bridget Reeves, granddaughter of Elsie Devine, along with her mother Ann Reeves and Ian Wilson also called for Dr Barton to be prosecuted.

She said in a statement: ''The elderly and the public deserve better. If somebody is going to die, it is not up to the doctor to decide when that will be.

''It is their basic right to have their families around them in the last few days.