A grandfather died on a hospital trolley in a “chaotic” A&E after an 18 hour wait. Graham Millward, 87, “suffocated to death” in front of his wife and daughter in a corridor after being deprived of oxygen at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.
An inquest heard he had been admitted to the hospital on January 9 after paramedics were called to his nursing home in Wellington, Shropshire. On arrival at the hospital there was no space on a ward, so Mr Millward was forced to wait in an ambulance receiving area for a shocking 18 hours.
His daughter said when he was finally taken to A&E there was still no cubicle ready and staff failed to attach his oxygen properly, leaving him “gasping for air.” The retired welder never made it onto a ward for further treatment and died inside the A&E department.
Daughter, Paula Millward, 60, from Telford, said she was forced to watch her dad’s final gasps for air after bungling hospital staff failed to reattach his oxygen.
She said her father had the chance of a “dignified passing” taken away from him. She described the distress caused as “unforgivable.”
Paula said: “My father did not deserve this, he was deprived of a dignified passing and I was forced to watch him take his final breaths.”
She said her dad had been poorly and in and out of hospital but family fully expected him to come home. She said a hospital report confirmed he should have.
Mr Millward’s grieving daughter said he spent an hour on the ambulance when he arrived at the hospital before he was taken to the ambulance receiving area, which she said was a “glorified porter cabin”.
Paula claimed her dad was given oxygen but when he was finally moved 18 hours later, they didn’t attach the pipe properly and he still had the face mask on so it restricted his breathing more.
She continued: “He should have been taken to resus but instead he was taken to a cubicle, which was already occupied. So instead he was in a corridor surrounded by chaos in a busy A&E department with no dignity at all.
“I said to a nurse, ‘Is my dad OK?’ and she took one look at him and said they needed to get screens around him straight away. We basically had to watch him gasping for air before he suffocated to death in front of us.
“My sister and his granddaughter who live away were robbed of the time to get to him.”
In tribute to her dad, Paula said: “He was a lovely family man and very popular. So many people turned out for his funeral, but the way he was treated was unforgivable.”
Shropshire Coroner’s Court heard Mr Millward’s death was “more likely than not” sped up by a lack of oxygen therapy.
The grandfather-of-one had been “in and out” of Princess Royal Hospital and had a number of medical conditions, including pneumonia.
But his death was “hastened” due to the failure to provide oxygen, meaning his loved ones were “robbed” of the chance to say their goodbyes.
A statement from a doctor at the hospital was read to the coroner’s court. He said there was a failure to deliver oxygen therapy when it should have been given and it was “more likely than not” the error would have caused Mr Millward “distress” and “hastened his passing”.
John Ellery, Senior Coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, recorded a narrative conclusion that Mr Millward’s death was of natural causes, hastened with additional distress.
Dr John Jones, Medical Director at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, said: “We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family of Mr Millward and apologise for the care he received.
“We are committed to providing the best possible care and we are taking action to address the findings of a full internal investigation, including a review of the staff training for the transfer of patients receiving bottled oxygen.
“Our Trust will also act on any further actions recommended by the coroner.”