A SUSSEX MP has called for an urgent Government inquiry after a woman bled to death on an understaffed NHS hospital ward.

The Argus told yesterday how Pauline Freeman died after a routine hysterectomy.

Lewes Lib Dem MP Norman Baker yesterday appealed to Health Secretary Frank Dobson to launch an investigation into her death at Eastbourne District General Hospital.

He says Labour must act to end a nursing crisis which is creating "unacceptable" standards on the wards.

Mrs Freeman, 54, from Little Common, near Bexhill, died last March.

An inquest in Eastbourne heard she suffered massive internal bleeding when a ligature used to tie a main artery slipped.

Her decline in the hours after the operation went unnoticed by four nurses who were caring for 34 patients.

Of the four, only one was qualified and the others were auxiliaries.

Finally, Mrs Freeman suffered a heart attack and died, despite emergency surgery.

The inquest was told by expert witnesses how patients on the Seaford 4 ward on the night of Mrs Freeman's death could have expected fewer than ten minutes of the only trained nurse's time.

East Sussex coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of accidental death.

But Mrs Freeman's husband Roy, 59, a builder, called on the Government to learn crucial lessons from her death and guarantee better staffing levels.

And last night Mr Baker backed his call.

He said: "There needs to be an investigation into why so few nurses were expected to tend to so many patients.

"If only four staff, with only a single full-time staff nurse, were working to help nearly three dozen patients, then that is unacceptable.

"I am writing today to Frank Dobson to demand an immediate investigation into this tragic incident."

Mr Baker added: "This tragedy demonstrates clearly how our National Health Service needs more resources to cope with the demands placed upon it."

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