Hospital crisis as two men die after being left without nursing care in south London

"Two men died a day apart after falling over when they were left unsupervised at an overstretched South London hospital. David Ward, 76, died at St George's Hospital, in Tooting, on February 10, 2024, and Dr Debapriya Ghosh, 83, died the day after on February 11. Fiona Wilcox, Senior Coroner for Inner West London, issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in which she said there were not enough beds or nurses to manage demand in A&E in both cases."

"Mr Ward was taken to St George's with frailty, confusion and likely infection on February 7, 2024. He was not risk assessed by nurses and received no significant nursing care after his daughter left in the early hours of February 8. He was later found kneeling by his bedside, having suffered a head injury, and died on February 10. The inquest found he should have received enhanced care due to his risk, which would have prevented the fall and his death."

"Dr Ghosh was admitted to St George's on February 9, 2024, suffering with delirium, an infection and heart issues. He was cared for in the corridor for several hours before being transferred to a bed in the early evening, as A&E was so busy. Dr Ghosh was not risk assessed by nurses until almost midnight. Staff sought medical advice after he became more delirious in the early hours of February 10, but his nursing risk was not reassessed."

Two elderly patients died after unwitnessed falls while left unsupervised at an overstretched A&E at St George's Hospital. One patient arrived with frailty, confusion and likely infection and received no significant nursing care or risk assessment before suffering a fatal head injury. The other patient was cared for in a corridor, experienced delayed risk assessment and deteriorating delirium without reassessed nursing supervision before an unwitnessed fall and subsequent death. Inquests found failures to escalate to enhanced or one-to-one care and identified lack of beds and nursing staff as key contributory factors. A Prevention of Future Deaths report was issued to the Health Secretary.

Read at www.standard.co.uk