Patient's hospital bed left dripping in urine - coroner

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn has been told to take action

A patient's hospital bed was dripping in urine and her medication left "extremely unsafe" at her bedside, a coroner's report has said.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk, has been told to take action following the case of Kim Stroud, who died in October 2022.

The report states the 65-year-old's family often had to clean and change her themselves.

The hospital said the experience "falls below the standards" they would expect.

The Prevention of Future Deaths Report said Mrs Stroud was admitted in August 2022 for surgery for a tumour in her bladder, which had been cancelled five times.

She suffered chest infections, was on high oxygen demand and died suddenly of lung disease while in the hospital's care on 11 October.

'Extremely unsafe'

In her report, Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake said Mrs Stroud's relatives found pots containing tablets "just left on their mother's bedside table" on several occasions.

These had been siqned-for as "qiven", the report stated, and on one occasion Mrs Stroud had concealed nine tablets inside her incontinence pads because she thought she was being poisoned.

"It was extremely unsafe to leave tablets in this way," the report added.

The coroner said: "Mrs Stroud had delirium and could not be left to take them herself.

"There were other confused and mobile patients on the same ward who could have picked them up.

"On several occasions Mrs Stroud was found in her bed so soaked in urine that the urine was dripping off the edge of the bed and the family had to wash and change her themselves."

Mrs Blake added she had seen photos of the mattress dripping in urine.

Pippa Street, chief nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, said: "On behalf of the Trust, I offer our sincere condolences to Kim Stroud's family.

"We were very sorry to hear the experience reported by Mrs Stroud's family, which falls below the standards we would expect to provide for a patient being cared for at our Trust.

"We are currently reviewing this case to allow us take forward any appropriate learnings and changes to improve patient safety."