Dying cancer victim not given pain relief - Telford hospital apologises following criticism from health watchdog

Telford's Princess Royal Hospital was criticised by the health service ombudsman over its treatment of 81-year-old Margaret Humphreys, who died at Telford's Severn Hospice on December 2013, 16 days after being admitted to the hospital.

The hospital also lost Mrs Humphrey's admission record when she arrived at the hospital by ambulance.

The ombudsman partially upheld a complaint from Mrs Humphrey's son Paul, although it rejected claims she had suffered rough handling from hospital staff.

Medical director for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust Dr Edwin Borman apologised to Mr Humphreys and his family, and said lessons would be learned.

Mr Humphreys said his mother, who shared a bungalow with him in Maple Close, Market Drayton, had been in reasonable health until she was taken ill in the autumn of 2013.

But he said she was in considerable pain from the moment she arrived at the hospital during the evening of December 13.

"It was unbelievable, it was very distressing, something I'm never going to forget," said the 52-year-old milk collection driver.

"I was very close to my mother, to see her going through that was terrible.

"She went to see her GP on 10 previous occasions, seeing several different doctors, because of the pain she was suffering before she went into hospital."

He said shortly after she was admitted to the hospital's acute medical unit, and told both a junior doctor and a consultant that Mrs Humphreys was in pain

"No pain relief was given," he said.

Mr Humphreys said he returned to visit his mother at 7.30 the following evening, when she asked if she could use the toilet.

"One nurse pulled my mother by her arm, and she cried out in pain, I had not heard her cry out in pain like this before."

He added that the nurses then tried to put a bed pan under Mrs Humphreys, so that her back was arched.

"She was in horrendous pain, she asked me to take her home, and squeezed my hand tightly, her hands and arms were shaking, but the nurses did not stop."

Mr Humphreys said he complained about her rough handling but the ward manager did nothing.

He said he was concerned about the pain his mother was in, and asked for her to be given pain relief, but hospital staff said they had asked her if she was in any discomfort, and she told them she wasn't.

But Mr Humphreys said: "My mother was hallucinating, and saying strange things which she had not done before.

"She was not of sound mind by that stage, and she was clearly in pain."

On December 17, Mrs Humphreys was diagnosed with multiple cancer to the liver and bones, which the ombudsman ruled was clear evidence she was in pain.

Catherine Olney-Falzon, who investigated the complaint for the ombudsman, ruled the hospital's treatment of Mrs Humphreys was reasonable during the first few days of her stay, but said pain relief should have been administered once she had been diagnosed with cancer of the bone, and it was clear she was in pain.

"We did find a failing in the provision of pain relief, once it was understood Mrs Humphreys had cancer which had spread to her bones, and which was likely to be causing her pain," she said.

Mrs Olney-Falzon said there was no evidence of Mrs Humphrey's being roughly handled, but criticised the hospital for a lack of sensitivity regarding its handling of the complaint.

Dr Borman said: "While the care of our patients is central to everything we do, we do not always get everything right all of the time.

"However, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the family of Mrs Humphreys for the missed opportunity in making her more comfortable during her admission.

"In particular, this case has provided important learning points for the assessment of patients with painful conditions and the best way to provide pain relief."