'My mother was so thirsty in hospital I was forced to feed her ice lollies': Daughter's fury after pensioner, 79, was left in squalor as she died from lung cancer

Mrs Aston was admitted to hospital on April 19 last year with pneumonia.

It was only after a physiotherapist spotted Mrs Aston’s health deteriorate and reported it to a senior doctor that the family were told how serious her condition was.

After her mother’s death, Mrs Holmes submitted a complaint to bosses at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Mrs Aston’s outraged GP David Farmer, of Merstow Green Medical Practice, Evesham, also wrote to the trust to complain about her treatment.

He said that an earlier diagnosis of cancer would not have saved her life but if it had been picked up 'appropriate end-of-life care could have been put in place'.

Mrs Holmes added: 'The saddest thing was that mum loved that hospital and had always chosen to go there.
'That is the saddest part of it. The place she put her faith and trust in let her down in the end.'

She added: 'Mum received no treatment from the Thursday she went in until the following Monday.

'It was only then they told us she had cancer. A doctor finally decided she should be put in a side room, but there was a breakdown in communication and the consultant didn't come to see us until the next day.

'He told us she had lung cancer and secondary liver cancer.

'She had only gone in for treatment for pneumonia, I wasn't expecting that news.

'I hadn't seen any scans or anything, nothing had been done until then. If we had just known sooner we could have gotten her into a hospice and she could have died with some dignity.

'On the Wednesday morning I received a phone call that I needed to go in, I had just nipped home to change.

'When I got there I went to go into the room and someone put their hand on my shoulder and just said "no, you can't go in there", that was when I knew it was too late.

'Don't get me wrong, there were some fantastic doctors in there who looked after her, but they were surrounded by so many agency staff who didn't know the names of any of the patients.

'I've given the hospital a year, and now I'm speaking out. All they've done since is invite me to one board meeting, which was useless.'

Chief nursing officer Helen Blanchard has written to Mrs Holmes offering a 'heartfelt and sincere' apology.

Mrs Blanchard said: 'We would like to repeat our offer of a sincere apology to Mrs Holmes.

'We accept that aspects of the care that her mother received were unsatisfactory, and we are deeply sorry for her family’s experience.

'We have been in regular contact with Mrs Holmes over the last year to talk about how we have learned from her experience.

'We were very grateful when Mrs Holmes attended a board meeting to allow senior staff to listen to her story and we have taken action to improve care.

'I have written to Mrs Holmes recently to try and maintain communications, and would be happy to meet with the family again to address their needs.'

This article is courtesy of the Mail Online.