A HAMPSHIRE man died after part of a catheter was left inside him for nearly a year, an inquest heard.

Charles Dahl, 84, from Alresford, developed an infection from the 20cm fragment, but the hearing heard it was unclear how it had detached.

The item was discovered in a scan when he was rushed to Royal Hampshire County Hospital on April 21, but he died within 24 hours.

Pathologist Dr Hayley Burnley said it had caused a hole in Mr Dahl’s bladder, but she was unable to determine when this had occurred.

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that the catheter, described a “fairly significant piece of tubing “ by central Hampshire coroner Grahame Short, caused uro-sepsis.

Associate practitioner Printo Jacobs said he visited Mr Dahl’s home on Bighton Lane, Gundleton, to change a leg dressing on May 30 2016.

He said Mr Dahl’s wife also called him to say Mr Dahl, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, had pulled the catheter out, though she denies this.

Mr Jacobs said: “I cannot remember seeing the catheter. If I had seen it I would have documented whether it was intact or not.”

He added that he reported the visit to his line manager.

Carer Annaliese Watts said: “When I was washing him he would be flinching as if he was in pain, when I asked him if he was he would often answer no. On every occasion I logged it and reported it.”

Maria Golden, another carer, said when she tried to call district nurses about the discomfort, she either could not get through or they had refused to come out to the home.

Jenny Nops, matron of Southern Health’s community nursing team said their call line is busy and people will often give up before it can be answered, and that there was one log reference about a refusal of district nurses to come out, but it was “a misunderstanding”.

She added that since the incident, guidelines were now in place for what to do if a catheter is pulled out or is expelled.

Mr Short said that given Mr Dahl’s dementia, it wasn’t possible to establish how or why the incident happened.

“This case illustrates the problems in managing a catheter long term in the community. It has highlighted a number of shortcomings by the community nursing team but I don’t believe any of these factors have had a causal link. Lessons have been learnt.”

He recorded a narrative conclusion, saying Mr Dahl, a retired communications engineer, had died of multiple organ failure as a result of the infection from the retained catheter.

In a statement, Mr Dahl’s family said: “We as a family would like to thank everyone who looked after my dad. He was always a very grateful and uncomplaining man and we know he would want us to say thank you on his behalf.”