Hospital choice promise fails, say grieving family

An elderly woman was denied the chance to spend her last days in Newark Hospital, say her family.

Mrs Muriel Powell, 86, had always lived in Newark but spent the last five weeks of her life in Lincoln County Hospital, away from family, including her 85-year-old husband.

Her family are upset she did not have the opportunity to choose where she was treated.

Hospital campaigners said it was an example of the promised return of patients to Newark from other hospitals not working.

Mrs Powell’s daughter, Mrs Pauline Dobb, said: “They should give far more support to Newark Hospital and allow patients to make that choice of where they go. People shouldn’t have to go out of town.

“They are letting the people of Newark down.”

Weeks of making the 40-mile round trip to Lincoln took its toll on the family, particularly Mr Joseph Powell, who drove each day to visit his wife of 63 years.

Mrs Dobb and her brothers, Mr Robert Powell and Mr Mark Powell, all of Newark, took time off work to visit, while Mrs Powell’s 90-year-old sister, Miss Barbara Mabbott, was able to visit only twice.

“That is depriving patients in the town of their basic rights. It is degrading,” said Mrs Dobb.

Mrs Powell was taken to Lincoln by ambulance on November 11 after vomiting blood.

It was thought she had pneumonia, for which she was successfully treated at Newark Hospital two years ago.

From the beginning the family asked for her to be brought back to Newark and said they believed there were times when she was stable enough to do so.

Mr Mark Powell said they were told by her consultant there were no beds available at Newark.

The family are also upset about the care Mrs Powell received at Lincoln.

They said the ward she was on was poorly run and they constantly had to ask for information on her condition.

They complained of delays in seeing specialist teams and said blood samples were sent to Scunthorpe as there was no facility at Lincoln to analyse them.

They are convinced she would have received better care at Newark.

When Mrs Powell’s condition deteriorated the family arranged for her to be transferred to Beaumond House hospice but she died on December 15, the evening before the transfer was to take place.

Family visited her that evening but left unaware she was close to death, and the news was broken to them by phone as they were on their way home.

The cause of death was lymphacystic leukaemia.

The manager of Newark Hospital, Tracey Wall, offered her condolences to the family but said she could not comment on Mrs Powell’s case due to patient confidentiality.

“Prompt repatriation of patients is a key priority for Newark Hospital and we continue to achieve this wherever possible,” she said.

“Repatriation is on occasion constrained by bed availability and the gender of patients waiting for repatriation.

“It is also dictated by the patient being in a condition to travel at the time when appropriate bed space is available.

“We always take concerns about any aspect of patient care seriously.

“We would encourage the family of Mrs Powell to contact us so we can respond to their concerns directly.”

A United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust spokesman offered condolences but said it, too, was bound by patient confidentiality.

It encouraged the family to contact the trust to address any concerns.