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Sick father's painful death
A DAUGHTER claims her dad was left dying in agony during his final days in a Sheffield hospital after being denied adequate pain relief.
Janet Brooks' 76-year-old father Thomas Milner was being treated for end-stage leukaemia on the palliative care ward at the Northern General Hospital, where she says he was not given enough top-up morphine to relieve his symptoms.
Mrs Brooks, 54, said although her father's initial treatment was good he later suffered unnecessarily from not having enough medication.
She has made a series of complaints since his death in January 2006 - and Mr Milner's case has now been highlighted in a critical report by The Patients' Association.
It is demanding better care for older and vulnerable patients, claiming many are being denied dignity in NHS hospitals.
Mrs Brooks said her father - "a kind and gentle man" who lived on City Road, Sheffield - was in so much pain he was "literally pulling at the sheets with tears coming down his cheeks".
She said he was given 10 milligrams of morphine over 55 hours, which she says an independent doctor has since told her is a 'pitiful' amount for a patient with a terminal illness.
In desperation she called the family GP, and a junior doctor arrived shortly afterwards and doubled the morphine dose.
Mr Milner, a former electrician, died an hour later.
She has complained to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals which manages the city's five adult hospitals including the Northern General, and to the Healthcare Commission watchdog.
The Trust's chief nurse Hilary Scholefield said: "We have undertaken a full review of the care provided and also supported an independent review by the Healthcare Commission which found staff acted appropriately and within professional guidelines. We have shared all the conclusions of the review with Mr Milner's family."
Dr David Throssell, deputy medical director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "In palliative care there needs to be a careful balance between making the patient comfortable and giving too much medication.
"Too much medication can also make patients sleepy and therefore unable to communicate their wishes or talk with their family. Later in the evening Mr Milner's condition deteriorated and, as a result, he was given appropriate additional medication."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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