Eastbourne family angry over loss of woman who died at Royal Sussex

Sheila Stothart's relatives say when they visited they found her in clothing and bedding soiled in urine and faeces.

They said she was twice found on the floor of her room at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and her hydration and nutrition levels were not monitored correctly.

The NHS trust which runs the hospital has admitted there were "shortcomings" and has apologised.

Sheila's family said that several times they found her food and water out of her reach or a heavy jug of water that she was too weak to pour herself.  

It was on July 21 last year that Sheila’s youngest son Simon had to call an ambulance as she was suffering tightness in her chest.

She had aortic stenosis, which is when the aortic valve narrows and blood cannot flow normally.

She was in Eastbourne District General Hospital for a couple of weeks then on August 8 she was transferred to the Royal Sussex County Hospital due to concerns she had sepsis on the heart valve.

The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Kemp Town, Brighton (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

Her family were told she needed to be transferred to have an operation on her heart.

The Stotharts said she had only a few moments to sort out her things on August 8 before she was taken to the Royal Sussex, which did not receive her medical notes until the following day.

• READ MORE: Bullying still rife in hospital department, latest inspection finds

A spokesman from East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, in charge of Eastbourne District General Hospital, said: “We would like to express our deepest condolences to Mrs Stothart’s family for their loss. We are currently investigating the concerns about her care that they have raised with us."

Simon told The Argus: “The level of care Mum had at the hospital was disgusting."

The family live in Eastbourne so could only travel to Brighton to visit Sheila once every two or three days.

Sheila Stothart, centre, at her 80th birthday party in December 2022. To her left is her daughter Nicky, behind her to the left is her son Simon and to her right is her son Paul. On the far right is her husband Mick. Other family include her grandchildren and great grandchildren (Image: Family handout)

Each time they visited, they noticed Sheila’s condition was worsening.

There were two occasions when they found her in bedding and clothing soiled by her own urine and faeces.

• READ MORE: Crash victim’s shock as 'dead' patient wheeled past during A&E corridor care horror

In a letter to Simon’s father Mick, seen by The Argus, Dr Ryan Watkins, chief of service for the specialist division at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust which runs the Royal Sussex, said: “Heather Roberts [a ward leader and a nurse in charge of Sheila’s care] was extremely saddened to hear this and is very sorry that this occurred.

“Regular checks should have been made by nursing staff to prevent this and she assures you that this has been fed back to nursing staff to reflect on.”

Sion said: “We weren’t told that Sheila would not receive the heart operation for three weeks, but we think the hospital would have known this sooner."

In that time, the family received phone calls from Sheila who was confused and sounded anxious and worried.

“On one occasion, it seemed she was delusional and believed there had been a plane crash outside the Royal Sussex,” Simon said.

Sheila Stothart was 'very active and healthy' until she fell ill in July last year (Image: Family handout)

“Staff would reassure us that she would be checked up on, but there are no notes to show any of her confusion.”

The family allege staff were “unconcerned” about Sheila’s state of confusion.

But the letter said: “Ms Roberts is very sorry that you felt staff were unconcerned about Sheila’s confusion. She confirms that it was first documented in both the nursing and doctor’s notes on August 15. The confusion continued to be mentioned throughout the clinical notes and it is documented on August 29 that a discussion was had with you as she made several confused phone calls home.”

The Stotharts believe Sheila’s confusion was a sign of her dehydration, malnutrition and general worsening condition.

• READ MORE: 'Dad would not have died if hospital had acted sooner'

In the letter, which was sent on behalf of Dr George Findlay, chief executive of the hospital, it is confirmed there were no notes made on Sheila’s nutrition or hydration for 17 days, from August 13 to August 30.

Her fluid intake was not monitored until August 31 but should have been recorded when she was admitted on August 8.

The letter said: “Nurses documented that Sheila was eating and drinking well on August 9, 12 and 13.

“On August 30 it was documented that she was not eating and drinking so well, and a record of food intake was made on August 31 and September 1 but not thereafter.

“Ms Roberts confirms there is no documentation of fluid intake until August 31, as it was not deemed necessary until then.

“Ms Roberts agrees that Sheila should have had her food intake monitored from when she was first noted to become confused. Her fluid intake should have also been recorded from admission due to her poor kidney functions.

“Ms Roberts apologises sincerely for the poor documentation of Sheila’s nutrition and hydration and agrees this has highlighted that there is a lack of education amongst nursing staff as to when they should begin to start monitoring food and fluid intake.

“She assures you that the trust has since introduced daily hydration assessments online that must be completed by nursing staff.”

Sheila Stothart died after 'failings in care' in hospital, her family say (Image: Family handout)

Simon said: “It is too little too late. It doesn’t bring Mum back. We haven’t been able to grieve because we have been dealing with the poor care Mum received.”

The family were told on August 30 that Sheila could be discharged to receive care at home as her level of infection was lowering and that she could go home in seven to ten days.

But on Friday, September 1, Simon was told she had tested positive for Covid and her condition was deteriorating.

“I felt pressured to make a quick decision on resuscitation,” Simon said.

The family were confused about how Sheila could have contracted Covid given that she was in an isolated room.

The hospital said it was "not possible to say how Sheila contracted Covid” as none of the staff dealing with her had tested positive and none of the other patients on the ward tested positive between August 28 and September 4.

Sheila died just five days after contracting Covid.

Mick attended the hospital that day by train, getting there at around 10.55am to be advised that Sheila had died shortly before he arrived. However, Mick said she was already discoloured and icy cold, and believes she had died much earlier.

Dr Watkins said in his letter: “Her confirmed time of death by the doctors was 8.30am on September 6.”

Simone said: “She was a mum and grandmother and great-grandmother who up until this point was very active and healthy. We all miss her so much. She was still active and caring for neighbours.”

Maggie Davies, chief nurse at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We send our heartfelt condolences to Sheila’s family for their loss. University Hospitals Sussex have offered to meet with the family and we would like to reiterate this invitation.

“We have investigated Sheila's care thoroughly and shared the findings with her family. That investigation highlighted some aspects of care that could have been better, and we apologised to Sheila's family for those shortcomings, and we explained how we have now made changes to improve care.

“Our staff are focused on giving their patients the best possible care and we take any shortcomings seriously and endeavour to learn from them.”