Mr D had advanced stomach cancer and wanted to die at home. When his daughter arrived to collect him from Royal Bolton Hospital, she found he had been left for several hours, was in pain, desperate to go to the toilet and unable to ask for help because he was so dehydrated he could not speak or swallow. The emergency button had been placed out of his reach and his drip had been removed, fallen and leaked all over the floor. At home, his family discovered Mr D had not been given the right pain relief and they spent the weekend driving around trying to obtain the correct medication before he died.

Following a complaint from Mr D’s daughter, our investigation found that Mr D’s care and treatment fell below reasonable standards in care and treatment, discharge planning and complaint handling, causing distress and suffering for him and his family.

Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust apologised to Mr D’s daughter and paid her £2,000 in compensation. They also told us what they would do to prevent a repeat of the failings, including a review of nursing documentation, a new pain management course for staff and better planning to meet a person’s needs on leaving hospital.