Nottingham: Great-grandad home for Christmas after sepsis fight

Henry Finch's family said Henry Finch was "so ill" when he arrived at the hospital

A great-grandfather will spend Christmas at home surrounded by family - just days after doctors told his daughter to prepare for the worst.

Henry Finch, 82, was rushed into Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre with severe dehydration on 10 December.

Doctors discovered he had sepsis and told his daughter that he was unlikely to recover, the hospital said.

On Friday, Mr Finch headed home to his wife June and will continue receiving care via a "Hospital At Home" service.

"Dad was so ill," said his daughter, Maria, whose house backs on to her parents' home in Calverton.

"Now he's looking forward to coming home. Mum and dad always spend Christmas Day with us and I had been dreading having to split my day to make sure I could see both of them this year."

Henry and June, who have been married for 60 years, will be sitting down to dinner with Maria and her husband Ricky, their two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

'Really thankful'

The daughter thanked hospital staff for caring for her dad and for getting a care package sorted out to enable him to go home to June, who has dementia.

Mr Finch will receive two visits a day at his home until a social care package kicks in, the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said.

Gemma Maxwell, a community rehabilitation nurse for the trust, said: "He's such a lovely gentleman, he can't wait to get home. And we're really thankful that, as a team, we've been able to do that for him.

"Being at home has so many benefits for patient wellbeing - being in their own environment, getting back in their routine, home-cooked food, spending time with family - patients progress really, really well in terms of rehabilitation.

"We make Christmas Day as special as we can for our patients - but it is never going to be the same as being at home."