A ONE-LEGGED heart surgery patient was abandoned in a Scots hospital toilet for two hours – after hapless staff forgot about him.
OAP, David Campbell, (78), was found sitting on a bin in the toilet after fellow patients at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy raised the alarm.
Mr Campbell’s daughter, Lorraine Martin, claims her elderly dad was forced to drag himself to the toilet after hospital staff neglected him.
Lorraine slammed the hospital for its treatment of her father, describing it as “degrading and unforgivable.”
She further alleges her father was left for eight hours on a porter’s trolley when he was first admitted to hospital.
Lorraine, a trained nurse from Dunfermline, said: “My father was found in a state sitting on the bin in the toilet, having not been missed during this time by staff.
“He had soiled himself and it was noted that he was gone from his bed for nearly two hours and that a patient had raised the alarm.
“It was totally degrading for him and totally unforgivable.
“God help anyone who doesn’t have family or friends to watch over them,” she added.
Lorraine tried to have her father removed from the hospital, after the experience left him “withdrawn and humiliated.”
Dignity
Mr Campbell suffers from diabetes and vascular diseases and was transferred to Victoria Hospital following heart surgery at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary.
He spent two weeks on a ventilation machine in intensive care before being transferred.
Lorraine claims her father had been left for around eight hours on a porter’s trolley when he first arrived at the hospital, before being transferred to an “old battered bed” when no cardiac bed became available.
She said: “There was also a shortage of bed tables and my father had to eat his meals, breakfast and lunch, off his lap until Saturday evening, when my brother complained.
“Given that my father could not fully hold a cup or plate, valuable nutrition in which to build up strength was significantly lost and this, in my opinion, is not acceptable.”
“I’m sorry to say that my father’s heart was compromised during his short stay. He became withdrawn and had no confidence in himself which has had a huge impact on our family. I’m only glad that my father is now at home where he is treated with the respect and dignity that he is so rightly deserves.
“I have tried not to let recent negative press clouding my judgement with regards to this matter and, with a nursing background myself, I fully appreciate that any new hospital has initial teething problems.
“However, having now experienced first-hand the situation, I have to say I am both appalled and disgusted at the lack of care recently witnessed at the hospital.
“I am a trained nurse and I couldn’t treat people like this. In my opinion the hospital opened too soon, there is lack of dignity, a lack of equipment and a lack of staff,” she added.
John Wilson, Chief Executive of the operation, said: “I can confirm that the letter has been received and has been passed on to our patient relations department. Any concerns raised will be investigated thoroughly and we will respond directly to Ms Martin once this is complete.
Last week Rosyth pensioner Mary Wright (69) spoke of her “horrendous” ten-hour ordeal at the hospital, after she was given a medical examination on an old leather couch.
