A WIDOWER has made a formal complaint to hospital bosses following the death of his wife.

Patrick Neale claims his wife Vivien was left waiting for surgery for too long after being brought into the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Hospital bosses said they did everything they could to help the 67-year-old but her condition was so advanced it was not possible to save her.

Mrs Neale developed pains under her ribs on December 30 and the couple contacted her GP for help.

The GP was due to come out to see Mrs Neale but still had not arrived by the early afternoon so Mr Neale called an ambulance as her condition had deteriorated.

Mrs Neale was assessed when she arrived and it was discovered there was a problem with both her upper and lower bowels.

She went in for surgery 24 hours after she arrived but her condition was revealed to be inoperable.

Mr Neale, 69, was by his wife’s bedside when she died in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

He said: “The issues I have are why she was left so long. She was in a lot of deep pain and the morphine she was being given was not working.

“This must have indicated a serious problem so I do not understand why it took so long for anything to be done and for her to have the operation.”

Mr Neale is also preparing to make a complaint about the length of time it took for a GP to come to the couple’s house in Halland, near Lewes.

He said: “I just need to have some answers to all of this.”

A trust spokeswoman said: “We are extremely sorry for Mr Neale’s loss. His wife’s condition was so advanced it would not have been possible to save her life.

“Mrs Neale came into hospital in considerable pain, she was assessed in the emergency department and taken to our abdominal surgery ward where she was made as comfortable as possible. The following day she had a CT scan, which confirmed she had an acute and advanced condition of the bowel.

“Later that day, she was taken to theatre and the surgeons operating on her made a clinical decision that continuing with the surgery was not in Mrs Neale’s best interests because her condition was too advanced. She was taken to recovery and made comfortable so that her family could be with her in her final hours of life.

“We do completely understand how traumatic and distressing this was for Mr Neale and we have offered him the opportunity to meet with the clinical team who cared for his wife to talk about what happened when he is ready.”