IN A SOMALILAND HOSPITAL MAN DIES OF THIRST !!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Family of man who died of thirst in hospital told 'you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink'
By Daily Mail Reporter

12th May 2011

Staff refused to put Kenneth Walters on a drip

The family of an elderly patient who died from dehydration said they were forced to give him water through a damp flannel - after hospital staff refused to put him on a drip.

One nurse allegedly told the man's daughter: 'You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink' just days before he died.
Kenneth Walters, 83, dropped from around eight stone to six stone in weight in just two weeks - while his family described him as 'emaciated, skin and bone'.
But he was not put on a drip or given a special beaker to aid with drinking water.

Another blundering doctor even said Kenneth was ready to be discharged only hours before he passed away - and told coroners his family were happy with his treatment.

Daughter Jane Carlton, who herself is a nurse, said: 'He was a frail old man - but I didn't think that should deprive him of routine hydration and food.

'I could not see how on earth you could discharge someone in that state.

'I was told by one nurse "you can take a horse to water, but can't make it drink".'

Bosses at Royal Derby Hospital, where Kenneth had undergone a routine hip operation, have admitted a string of failures at an inquest into his death.

The hearing even discussed whether Mahya Mirfattiahi should face a police investigation for initially telling a coroner's officer the family were happy with his treatment.

Daughter Jane had refused to register Mr Walters' death demanding a full investigation.

But Coroner for Derby and South Derbyshire, Robert Hunter eventually decided not to refer the doctor's actions to police.

Mr Walters, who also had dementia, was admitted after a fall at Spencer Grove Care Home, in Belper, Derbsyshire, which fractured his hip.

After the successful hip-replacement operation, he was put on to a ward where he was initially eating and drinking but then started losing weight.

Jane added: 'He was fading away - I mentioned to the staff he appeared to be dehydrated.

'His mouth was getting quite crusty - we used to wipe his mouth with a wet flannel and he used to suck the water out.'

From August 2009 to his death later that year on September 7, Dr Mirfattiahi had been monitoring his progress.

But she admitted yesterday that she had misread blood tests which showed how dehydrated he was.

She said: 'I made a mistake in the way I interpreted them.'
She also failed to check why earlier blood tests she ordered had not been carried out, adding: 'I was looking after 30 patients by myself.'

At one stage, when she was on call, she had to be bleeped 12 times as Kenneth deteriorated.

The junior medic said she consulted with senior staff about whether he should be put on a drip - but it was decided they should encourage 'oral intake' to get him home quicker.
Dr Hunter said: 'Oral intake was sucking fluids with a flannel. Oral fluids, in this instance, were completely inappropriate.'

Dr Mirfattiahi had a meeting with Mr Walters' daughters on the morning he died.

Jane said: 'By this stage we'd had two weeks of asking, and asking, and asking.

'We stressed we were not happy with his condition. We asked 'are we looking at him dying?' Was treatment being withheld because of that?

'She said she was not concerned. In the end, I asked her if she would be concerned if it was her father.'

An action plan was drawn up, which finally included Mr Walters being put on a drip. But he died that night.
Jane added: 'We did comment that we hoped it wasn't too little too late.'

Dr Hunter was due to record a verdict last night - telling the family it could be one of accidental death, with a rider of neglect.

Last night, the hospital apologised for the failings in care that Kenneth received.

Brigid Stacey, director of nursing and midwifery, told his inquest: 'I offer sincere condolences to the family of Mr Walters and formally apologise for the insufficiencies.'

She said after his death in 2009 a report had identified eight key areas for improvement.

Among them were staffing levels, communication errors, training issues, monitoring of hydration and the ordering of blood test results.

She added that, if measures that have now been put in place had been there in 2009, 'the situation would have been very different'.



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