A woman is taking legal action after her husband crawled up a hospital ward, then had a cardiac arrest on a mattress on the floor.

Sandra Power has catalogued complaints about the care her husband Stuart received at Brighton General Hospital, which she says fell below an acceptable level.

Mr Power, 54, died three months later in the intensive care unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Mrs Power, 53, and her family are so distraught by the circumstances of his death that they have instructed a solicitor to take up the case and have been granted legal aid.

Mr Power was admitted to the accident and emergency unit at the Royal Sussex on May 13 last year with a severe headache, following an examination by a doctor at their home in Brighton Road, Newhaven.

Tests revealed he had a brain tumour and his life hung in the balance for weeks as he battled kidney problems, pneumonia and other infections, as well as undergoing treatment to shrink the tumour.

But against the odds he made a good recovery. Mrs Power said: "He was really fighting and had got well enough to be discharged from the Intensive Therapy Unit."

Mr Power started walking with a frame and receiving daily physiotherapy. On July 15 he was well enough to be transferred to Brighton General.

Stuart Welling, the chief executive of Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, said in a letter to Mrs Power on the night Mr Power crawled down the ward he had been nursed continuously until 12.15am when the nurse left his room.

The letter said the staff believed it was safer for her husband and other patients not to restrain him after he became agitated and aggressive.

Five minutes later Mr Power called out and four staff found him kneeling on the floor. He had removed his oxygen mask and was shouting that everyone was going to die.

The letter said: "His strength prevented the nurses from doing more than staying with him and trying to ensure he did not hurt himself or another patient, he was not left alone.

"Mr Power was not dragged down the ward by staff. He would not let anyone touch him. He crawled out of his room and along the ward. As he was so agitated and resisting any assistance, the staff felt it was safer to allow him to make his way into the main ward without any attempt to restrain him.

"Their main concern was his safety and that of other patients. By the time he reached the main ward area he was very breathless and tired.

"It took six members of staff to roll him on to a mattress. This was done to make him comfortable."

The letter says Mr Power then suffered respiratory arrest followed by cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the mattress.

According to his death certificate, his death was not linked to the incident.

Mr and Mrs Powers had been married for 32 years and had five children.

Mrs Powers now lives in a bungalow in Steyning Avenue, Peacehaven.

Mrs Power said: "It's awful and should never, ever have happened. He was a good man I can't believe he's not coming back."

In his letter Mr Welling said: "Whilst I am very aware this has been an extremely difficult and distressing time for you, I have to say I can find no evidence the care he received during that time was in any way inadequate or inappropriate."

A spokesman for Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, said: "We can't comment on an individual case because of patient confidentiality and it is subject to legal action."