Stafford Hospital did not provide "suitable feeding" before pensioner's death

Hospital bosses have apologised over failings in the care leading up to the death of Richard Lockley.

The 72-year-old, from Penkridge, was at Stafford Hospital after falling at home and breaking his neck when he suffered a further fall, resulting in him being kept in.

South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh said a failure to ensure Mr Lockley was properly fed "exacerbated" his condition. Mr Lockley, who had neck and throat cancer, died on September 2018, six weeks after his fall at County Hospital.

Mr Haigh has ordered the trust that runs the hospital to take action to ensure future deaths are prevented. The coroner criticised "very poor communication" between Stafford's County Hospital and Royal Stoke Hospital, which are both run by the University Hospital of North Midlands (UHNM) Hospital Trust.

His report said doctors had decided to transfer Mr Lockley to a gastroenterology ward at Royal Stoke Hospital, yet he remained in Stafford as a bed could not be found for him.

At an inquest in January, Mr Haigh's conclusion on the pensioner's death was 'trauma from accidental falls exacerbated by delay in suitable feeding'.

A report sent to trust chief executive Paula Clark said: "He was a complex case and suitable feeding had not been sorted out by the time he died in the hospital on September 11."

"During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken."

The report continued: "There appears to have been very poor communication between County Hospital and Royal Stoke in respect of the transfer. I wonder if this could be improved generally where patients need to be transferred between County Hospital and Royal Stoke."

A UHNM spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Mr Lockley’s family. The standard of care fell short of what we would aspire to deliver and as a result we have taken a number of opportunities to learn from his case.

“Managing available beds across both our hospitals sites is a task which requires constant adjustment and supervision and the trust has implemented various measures to ensure that patients receive the appropriate treatment with minimal delay.”