A SOUTHAMPTON hospital has apologised after ‘failing’ a vulnerable elderly woman who died days after suffering a fall.

Staff at Southampton General Hospital were criticised in a damning report over the care of 95-year-old Monica Bridle, who suffered severe bruising to her face after a fall from her hospital bed.

Now bosses at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust have said sorry to her family for ‘not getting her care right’.

An investigation by the the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found several failings including:

  • Not telling Mrs Bridle's family about the fall.
  • Not recording the injuries in her discharge papers.
  • Failing to tell her daughter that she had been discharged from hospital to a nursing home.

Mrs Bridle, 95, pictured below, who was partially sighted, fell into a gap between her bed and the wall while an agency health care assistant was changing her bedding during the incident, which took place two years ago.

Daily Echo:

Her daughter Maureen Wylie was shocked to find her mother had been discharged to a care home without her knowledge – and was further stunned to see the bruises.

Maureen, 60, of Sherfield English, said: “I was shaken and shocked when I saw my mum at the nursing home. I still get flashbacks. The staff at the nursing home were on the verge of tears. How can this happen, in 2013, to a 95-year-old lady?

“I was not happy with the care she was receiving at the hospital and it took forever to get her discharged. In the end, when they eventually did discharge her, they didn't even tell me.

“I'm terrified going into a hospital - I think they are incompetent. What was lacking was basic nursing, basic common sense - this was sorely lacking.”

Mrs Bridle, who lived in Lyndhurst, died of natural causes just five days after being discharged - although the investigation found the fall was not the cause of her death.

After the incident, the investigation found staff did not follow its Falls Care Plan - which manages the risk of patients falling - by ensuring she was moved by two members of staff instead of one.

Staff also provided incorrect information to her daughter about her mother's funding arrangements.

The hospital has been told to apologise to Maureen and her family over the failings and produce an action plan to prove lessons have been learnt.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said: “This story shows the importance of following clearly laid care plans. It also highlights the effect poor communication in the health service can have on people.

“The daughter, on several occasions, was left not knowing what was happening to her incredibly vulnerable mother, which was clearly very distressing for her. The Trust's poor treatment of her mother has meant she has lost confidence in the NHS.

“We have asked the Trust to apologise to the daughter for failing to take enough action in relation to her mother's fall out of bed and to produce an action plan that demonstrates it has learnt the lessons from this case, in particular in relation to staff following Falls Care Plans.”

Maureen confirmed she had received a letter of apology from the hospital.

The Ombudsman Service has since been satisfied the hospital has taken steps to address the failings - including introducing electronic incident reporting, auditing discharge checklists and using ward meetings to ensure relatives are informed of any patients' falls.

Judy Gillow, director of nursing at UHS, said: “There were a number of aspects of this patient's care that we did not get right and we have unreservedly apologised to her family for that.

“We hope that our extensive investigation and subsequent contact with her daughter, as well as our work with the ombudsman's team, has helped us to demonstrate how working practices have improved across the organisation.

“In addition to intensive retraining and monitoring, we have also introduced an electronic system for reporting falls and the implementation of much more stringent processes for communication with relatives.

“We will continue to offer our support to this patient's family members and would be happy to further discuss the outcome of our investigation and actions taken.”