Elderly patient dies from bedsores, hospital admits mistakes

Dartford and Gravesham Hospitals NHS Trust has agreed to pay out an undisclosed sum as compensation and has apologised to the family of a patient who died of severe bedsores at Darent Valley Hospital, Kent Online reports.

Anthony Fluendy, a 74-year-old who had spent most of his life paralysed from the waist down, was admitted to hospital following a minor stroke in 2010. Although staff were aware of the fact that he was unable to move on his own, which meant he was exposed to increased risk of developing bedsores, the hospital personnel did not assist him. As a result, he developed grade four pressure sores on his back and legs and died of MRSA infection and blood poisoning. He was also diagnosed with pneumonia he had developed during his stay at the hospital.

His daughter took legal action against Dartford and Gravesham Hospitals NHS Trust and hired solicitors who found that the hospital had also made errors in documentation and in communication, providing "woefully lacking" care. At a recent inquest, coroner Roger Hatch confirmed that hospital staff were not taking proper care of the patient and denied that Fluendy was likely to die after the stroke, a negligence claim that the hospital reportedly made.

The Trust admitted the mistakes made during Fluendy's treatment and stated that the incident was taken "extremely seriously". In 2011-12 the number of grade 3 and 4 pressure sores fell by nearly 50%, the Trust said.

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