West Suffolk Hospital has apologised after a patient who required 'care around the clock' died on a hospital ward while his wife underwent emergency surgery.
Dr Ewen Cameron, chief executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, issued the apology following the publication of a prevention of future death report for Joseph Willy Maunick (Will).
Mr Maunick, who died in March 2021, required "care around the clock" and was admitted to the hospital as a social admission while his wife and carer underwent unplanned emergency major surgery.
Dr Cameron said: "We are very sorry about the death of Mr Maunick and I send my sincere condolences to his friends and family at this very dificult time.
"We had been under intense, sustained pressure, and when this occurs, we cannot always provide one-to-one care.
“Mr Maunick needed round the clock care, which would have been best provided in a social care setting.
"However as stated in the report, the capacity in the social care system was unfortunately not there. This led to him being admitted to our emergency department as a last resort, where he tragically fell.
“We work tirelessly with social care partners to provide the right care in the right place at the right time for our patients.
"Sadly, on this occasion we were not able to do this.”
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust's apology comes shortly after an inquest opened for an 89-year-old patient from Clacton who died at Ipswich Hospital in 2021.
The inquest heard Caryl Ann Mclaren was assaulted by a violent dementia patient who had been left on an open hospital ward for three months because his care home could no longer care for him.
Prema Fairburn-Dorai, who chairs the Suffolk Association of Independent Care Providers (SAICP), said these recent cases had made her "furious".
"The last port of call is to chuck these patients into a hospital," she said.
"Hospitals have no choice and they're not geared up for that type of care."
Ms Fairburn-Dorai said that she did not believe this case could be attributed to a care shortage.
"In Suffolk alone, we have over 350 overseas recruits and, if anything, providers are struggling to find work," she added.
"What is happening, however, is that there is a shortage of funding for those sorts of beds.
"If the care homes care for these people, they need to have the funds to allow them to give the level of care needed in people with advanced dementia."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here