Stroke victim scalded by hot drink left to suffer by 'untrained' hospital staff

 
Victim payout: Mrs Downs had been admitted to Maidstone Hospital after a fall
Paul Cheston16 July 2014

A stroke patient was left untreated for nearly an hour after being severely burned by a hot drink served by hospital staff.

Margaret Downs, 78, suffered third degree burns. Staff stood by, claiming they did not have the necessary first aid training in burns to treat her.

An internal inquiry by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust found that Mrs Downs had been a victim of “wilful neglect” by staff in July 2012.

Lawyers Irwin Mitchell have secured undisclosed damages and an apology from the Trust for failures in Mrs Downs’s care.

But her daughter has called on the Trust to state whether reforms have been introduced to safeguard other vulnerable patients.

The Trust’s report into the incident identified an action plan but Valerie Wintrup says she has had no confirmation that this has been implemented.

Mrs Downs was admitted to Maidstone Hospital after a fall at her home in Allington, Kent.

She had suffered a brain haemorrhage and was kept on the stroke ward for palliative [end of life] care. Four days later the hospital phoned Mrs Wintrup to say her mother had suffered a small scald. But when she visited the next day, she discovered a large burn to her mother’s lap and stomach that was causing her pain and distress.

Mrs Wintrup, 58, also from Allington, said: “I was appalled and she said she had shouted out in pain but no one had come to help.

“I then found out it was 55 minutes before the burns had been attended to and dressed. When I found out the nurses could not treat her because they weren’t trained in first aid for burns I was in total shock.

“I couldn’t believe that no one other than a doctor could help her while she was crying out in agony and clearly severely injured.

“Nothing can turn back the clock or make up for the atrocious ordeal my mum had to go through in her final days but I want to ensure what she went through was not in vain.”

Avey Bhatia, chief nurse at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, said: “We sincerely apologise to Mrs Downs’s family for the injury she sustained while in our care and have made changes as a consequence to improve patient safety. We reviewed ward training and introduced new safety beakers for hot liquids. Lessons have been learned.”

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