Sussex pensioner was made to eat next to faeces in hospital

Richard Papworth, 76, was admitted to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath after falling and fracturing his hip on March 1.

He was taken to the hospital from his home in Marine Drive, Saltdean, in the early hours and was operated on.

But his treatment during his six-week stay was shockingly bad after that, Mr Papworth’s inquest at Brighton Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday.

He had told his wife, Joan, he had seen a male agency nurse giving patients medication without wearing gloves or washing his hands on March 16.

The following day he was made to eat his lunch from a dirty tray after using a commode which was left unemptied next to him.

He had also been left with his pyjamas round his ankles by nurses and was found in that state by Mrs Papworth.

The next day Mr Papworth’s condition had deteriorated, with staff believing he had a build-up of fluid in his chest which later proved to be hospital-acquired pneumonia, the inquest heard.

Mr Papworth, who had bowel cancer and had broken his other hip in 2015, was staying in the Twineham ward but was put in intensive care as the chest infection worsened.

Doctors gave him the correct medication to try to get rid of the problem and it was later established he had developed pneumonia.

His stay in hospital had revealed undetected chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and he had been struggling with his breathing.

This meant he needed a supply of oxygen every three to five hours – but during one day was left from 6am to 2.30pm without records showing he received any.

Mr Papworth, a retired electrical engineer, was put on antibiotics and began to recover at the beginning of April.

He was ready for discharge on April 9, but staff did not contact Mrs Papworth to let her know until the morning of April 16, when he was being discharged – leaving her anxious and unprepared, she said.

Senior medics from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Princess Royal, gave evidence at the inquest.

Dr Joseph Threlfall, a lead nurse for the trust, said the nurse who handed out medication without washing his hands denied the claims.

He said the staff working when Mr Papworth was left in bed with his trousers down also denied it, but he said it “obviously happened” and he “asked them to put themselves in Mrs Papworth’s position.

Finally, he said the nurse working when Mr Papworth’s oxygen was not checked said he did check but did not record results because he “could not find” the check sheet.

But the coroner branded it as “extremely poor practice”.

Dr Threlfall said one nurse is being given training because he is “below standards”.

Mrs Papworth had complained to the hospital about the standard of care her husband received while he was there.

Mr Papworth’s condition went downhill rapidly during his time back at home and he was taken ill once again, this time being admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

While there, Mrs Papworth was once again disappointed by the communication from staff, the inquest heard.

Dr Ian Gove, a geriatric consultant at the hospital, told the inquest he “does not have time” to speak to relatives unless they book appointments.

Mrs Papworth, a retired nurse, said she knew her husband of 40 years was dying and believed doctors should have been qualified enough to know, too.

The court heard Mr Papworth picked up more chest infections during his time at the Royal Sussex and later sepsis, though doctors could not work out what was wrong.

He was taken off antibiotics on May 4 but staff continued to try to help him – to the despair of Mrs Papworth, who had accepted Mr Papworth’s fate.

He died on May 8, after the bank holiday weekend in which there were no doctors working who knew Mr Papworth, after suffering a cardiac arrest the day before.

Mrs Papworth said she felt “let down” by all the doctors who had cared for her husband.

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley slammed the hospitals and their staff, saying their excuses were simply not good enough.

She called the care Mr Papworth received at the Princess Royal “suboptimal”.

Talking about the lunchtime incident, Mrs Hamilton-Deeley said: “I find this extremely upsetting.

“In spite of an inquiry, no one has been able to find out who was responsible for this.

“The fact there was a bowel movement that day has not been noted.

“I got the impression Dr Threlfall hadn’t looked (in the log) before today. I find this extraordinary.”

The coroner was appalled by the lack of care over Mr Papworth not receiving oxygen, too.

She said: “This was marked as a no harm incident, but it certainly isn’t.

“It’s an extremely serious matter.

“I was completely unconvinced by the explanation that the News chart (which detects patients’ deterioration) wasn’t available for this particular patient.

“It is unconvincing, unprofessional and, frankly, unbelievable.”

Mrs Hamilton-Deeley said she would be writing to the West Sussex coroner to make her aware of the poor standards on the Twineham ward.

However, she said she “can’t say” the poor hygiene on the ward caused the pneumonia.

Mrs Hamilton-Deeley also criticised the Royal Sussex, agreeing with Mrs Papworth staff should have tried to communicate with her.

She said: “What I can’t understand is why, when Royal Sussex doctors were aware of Mrs Papworth’s letter of complaint, they didn’t make any effort to go and talk with her.

“It’s not as if there was no opportunity to talk with her.

“I don’t accept that it’s good enough to say, as Dr Gove is, that the consultant can’t talk to the relatives and the consultant hasn’t got time.

“I don’t think Richard died because of these failings.

“But this was the only time Mr and Mrs Papworth had to come to terms with the fact he was so frail.

“It was the only time the had to try and gain confidence in the people looking after him.

“It was hard to understand why he wasn’t recovering and there should have been the trust and relationship there to understand the trust was doing everything they could to find out what was happening.

“These are all very important things which, sadly, were missing in these admissions.”

Mrs Hamilton-Deeley said the COPD was a significant factor in his death.

She said his cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure, bilateral pneumonia, sepsis and the fractured hip.

The coroner said Mr Papworth’s reduced mobility, severe COPD, an enlarged heart and the 2015 hip fracture were contributing factors, adding osteoporosis and mitral regurgitation also played a part.

She concluded Mr Papworth’s death was accidental.

After the inquest, Mrs Papworth, 68, told The Argus: “If he didn’t have that lung infection, my feeling is he would’ve made progress and come home.

“The doctors weren’t observing him.

“Whatever I say, it will be a waste of time.

“It’s not going to improve at the hospitals – it’s going to get worse.

“It’s a very sad, difficult time for me. Since his death, I’ve been doing so much paperwork for the inquest I haven’t had time to grieve.”