Your Dad's dead (only he wasn't)

WORTHING Hospital rang a woman in the middle of the night and told her: "Your dad has just died." Within an hour, they rang back to say they had made a terrible mistake '“ war veteran Charles Blake, 91, was still alive.

Karen Neal began telling relatives the heart-breaking news only for the phone to ring again. The same nurse told her: "I'm sorry. We have given you incorrect information. Your father has not passed away."

That call was one of 11 complaints the family have raised with hospital managers, accusing them of a catalogue of errors while Mr Blake was in their care.

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The hospital has apologised for the phone call error and promised a full investigation into the family's complaints.

Mr Blake finally died a week after the traumatic false alarm and when the real call came from the hospital, Mrs Neal replied: "Are you sure this time?" Mrs Neal was asleep at home, in Amberley Drive, Goring, when a call at 2.30am on March 3 delivered the devastating news that World War II soldier Mr Blake had passed away following treatment for a chest infection.

Mrs Neal said: "I was in shock. I said, 'I can't believe it. I saw him yesterday afternoon and had no idea he was so close to death'." She added: "My emotions were all over the place. Then I phoned my sister-in-law, my brother and his grandchildren to explain. Obviously they were all very upset."

Then the call came to say it had all been a mistake and Mrs Neal told the nurse: "Oh my God, what is happening? How on earth could this have happened?" The nurse, who has not been named, explained the error occurred when contact details were misplaced and put in wrong patient's files.

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The mother-of-three recalled: "I was in total shock. You go numb for a while and then it hits home just what has happened. It didn't sink in until the next day. I had to phone everyone back that night to say, 'actually, dad's still alive'."

The call was one of the complaints the family outlined in a letter to the Worthing Hospital management over the grandfather-of-four's treatment at the Buckingham ward before he died on March 10.

Among their concerns were that Mr Blake was covered in bed sores. On one occasion, they claim, nurses left him unattended on a commode for 20 minutes. When he attempted to get up, he fell and banged his head on the floor.

Grandson Mark Neal, 36, of Falmer Avenue, Goring, said: "My concern is that people will read this and think, 'a 91-year-old man, he had a good innings'. But it is the manner in which he was taken away that angers us most." Mr Neal feared his grand-dad, who lived at Rosemary Mount Care Home, Chesswood Road, for three years before being admitted to hospital, may have heard the ill-fated phone call.

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Hospital spokeswoman Pam Lelliott yesterday expressed "deep regret" and offered an unequivocal apology to the family. She said: "We are very sorry that Mrs Neal is unhappy with the care her father received while at Worthing Hospital. She can be assured that we are thoroughly investigating all the issues raised in accordance with the trust's complaints procedure. If mistakes were made, we will do our utmost to ensure they are not repeated. The error in contacting Mrs Neal with incorrect information about her father should not have happened. We can only express our deep regret for the distress and anxiety this has caused the family."