Man discharged from Sandwell Hospital with cannula in arm

Alan Buckley's family has since submitted a formal complaint to the trust

An elderly man was discharged from hospital with a cannula in his arm.

Alan Buckley, 86, of Halesowen, was admitted to Sandwell General Hospital on 13 December with dehydration.

When he was returned home by ambulance on 16 December, crews discovered the cannula had not been removed. He died in a different hospital a week later.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust is investigating a complaint from Mr Buckley's family and said its cannula removal procedure had "failed".

Mr Buckley's daughter Kathryn Lewis said ambulance crews had been "really shocked" by her father's condition

When Mr Buckley was returned home on 16 December, after being lifted into his chair by his son-in-law and ambulance staff, his blanket was removed and they found the cannula in his arm.

His family were also shocked his condition appeared to have deteriorated.

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Daughter Kathryn Lewis said: "He was completely blank, his eyes were closed as if he wasn't there, and they sort of wheeled him into the house and said that he needs changing, and my immediate thought was, 'well this was a police inspector and he's reduced to this'."

Mr Buckley was discharged from Sandwell General Hospital on 16 December

Mrs Lewis called the hospital ward and the decision was made to call 999 and return him to hospital. The family requested he be taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

The second ambulance crew recorded Mr Buckley's "significantly low blood pressure, low body temperature and dehydration". They were also concerned about the possibility of sepsis.

Son-in-law Michael Lewis said: "He certainly should not have been discharged.

"To me, he was far worse when he came out than when he went in."

In a statement, the Sandwell trust's chief nurse Paula Gardner said: "We have a procedure in place which should have prevented him being discharged with a cannula in situ and are investigating why that procedure failed in this case."

An inquest into Mr Buckley's death is due to take place on 4 March.