Patient in pyjamas was left to find her own way home

A pensioner was discharged from a hospital 24 miles away from her house, dressed in her pyjamas and with no money and no means of getting home.

Mrs Marie Haswell had to call a friend to pick her up from King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield, and take her home to Cleveland Square, Newark.

The 72-year-old had a blockage in her bile duct that made her violently sick in the early hours of January 12, and she was rushed to King’s Mill.

She was taken to A&E where she was on a bed in a side room throughout the night. Her grandson, Jonathan Gilbert, 33, accompanied her in the ambulance and stayed with her through the night.

Mrs Haswell was given morphine, her blood pressure was taken and she was told she would be prescribed medicine. She was not, however, admitted to a ward and was discharged at 8am without a prescription.

“I was very cold and I was in my pyjamas,” said Mrs Haswell.

“I feel let down that they let me go home with no money and no way of getting home.

“I was standing around in my pyjamas ready to collapse on a very cold day.

“I had to get a friend from Newark to come and get me and my grandson.”

On January 14 she went to Newark Hospital where it was discovered she had infections in her bile duct and gallbladder.

She was again taken by ambulance to King’s Mill and put on an observation ward.

“I had two infections when I left A&E. I should not have been discharged,” Mrs Haswell said.

She was again discharged but was back at the hospital on January 18 for an endoscopy appointment. She waited all day only to be told she could not be seen and to return the following week.

Mrs Haswell heard nothing from the department so made an appointment herself, which she attended and had a stone removed from her bile duct.

Mrs Haswell said there had been a lack of communication.

She said King’s Mill was too far away and more services should be offered at Newark.

'I want Newark Hospital to have more facilities'

“There are no travel facilities to get back to Newark and people are expected to go there [King’s Mill] in the middle of the night,” she said.

“They are not being given a choice of hospital but are being told they must go to King’s Mill because that is the only option.

“I want Newark Hospital to have more facilities and a bus service to King’s Mill.”

A Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said it strived to provide the best patient care possible.

“We would like to sincerely apologise to Mrs Haswell if she feels she has been let down by the trust,” said the spokesman.

“The trust would also like to apologise to Mrs Haswell for the delays regarding her endoscopy appointment, as it appears there was a breakdown of communication between departments, which meant she missed her appointment slot on January 18. This will be investigated accordingly.

“Although the trust did verbally confirm Mrs Haswell’s endoscopy appointment with her on January 23, we apologise that her letter was sent out late and she did therefore not receive it prior to her appointment.

“This has been noted and we will look to improve our procedures accordingly.”

A free bus service linking Newark and King’s Mill hospitals was axed by Newark and Sherwood Clinical Commi-ssioning Group (CCG) in 2016 as a cost-saving measure.

A CCG spokesman said: “While we are unable to comment on individual cases we can confirm that patients who call 999 for an ambulance or hospital patients who require emergency or more complex treatment are taken to the closest and most appropriate hospital by ambulance.

“With regards to non-urgent hospital appointments, patients who have a medical need and who meet the necessary criteria are able to apply for support with transport arrangements.”