An elderly man was treated "like a leper" in Southend Hospital after he contracted two hospital bugs following surgery, it was claimed today.
He was left in a small room wearing only an unbuttoned pyjama jacket, with nothing to eat or drink because a Nil by Mouth sign had been carelessly left up from the previous patient, according to an official document.
Staff would allegedly open the door a few inches, look at him and walk away.
He eventually died, screaming with pain, in his distraught wife's arms on Christmas Eve, it is claimed.
The distressing incident, two-and-a-half years ago, is contained in Two Years On - the second report by Southend Community Health Council on the care of older patients in Southend's Department of Medicine for the Elderly.
The report has been criticised by the hospital for picking out the one complaint without balancing it with an example from all the letters of thanks and praise the department receives.
The bereaved widow's complaint was taken up by an Independent Review Panel after she was dissatisfied with the hospital's own investigation.
The hospital has now drawn up an action plan to improve services, sending a copy to the dead man's widow.
Published Wednesday, March 6, 2002
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