A WIDOW has told how her husband was discharged with only socks on his feet before dying nine days later.

The pensioner, from Ardrossan, said she cried when her late-husband was sent home from hospital in a patient transfer vehicle and ‘he couldn’t get in quick enough’.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran apologised for the care the 84-year-old had received while at Crosshouse Hospital.

She told the Herald: “I was angry, very angry.

“I was comparing the nursing experience I had, and nothing like that happened.

“Everything has changed all this paperwork the nurses have to do, there’s not the time for the patient care.”

The former nurse, who worked in Glasgow Victoria Infirmary for 34 years and then as a Marie Curie nurse, said more needs to be done to train staff to deal with patients with dementia, such as her husband.

Despite having the condition, her husband was moved to the discharge lounge overnight causing him distress, which in turn made him not want to eat, she said.

She said her husband was given full meals which he could not eat, despite telling staff repeatedly it had to be soup and pudding only.

She said that when she was a nurse, on the front of the nursing notes it would be written in bold if the patient had pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, or allergies or, such as in her husband’s case, dementia.

She believes this is no longer noted in such an obvious way and has an impact of how patients are treated.

“It was just awful. It’s shocking.

“I think they are ill-equipped to deal with patients with dementia.

“My husband couldn’t even say if he was in pain.

“I just wanted to nurse him at home.”

Her husband was admitted to Crosshouse on May 5, was discharged on May 28, and died on June 6, 2019.

A letter from Professor Hazel Borland, nurse director at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, responding to the widow’s complaint states that the hospital was ‘under extreme pressure at the time’ which is why her husband was moved despite his dementia.

The widow told the Herald that, when her husband was discharged, he was brought home in a car and didn’t have any shoes on, so he had to walk in socks into their home.

She said she is concerned with the strain put on nurses, the lack of funding and the number of managers or bureaucrats compared to nurses.

Professor Hazel Borland, nurse director for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said: “We are sorry that Mrs Thomson has had cause to complain about the care her husband received.

“NHS Ayrshire and Arran has responded to Mrs Thomson’s complaint and we have apologised that we did not provide the standard of care that Mr Thomson should have received.

“NHS Ayrshire and Arran has a robust complaints system. This ensures that concerns and complaints are thoroughly investigated and the findings provided to the person or people involved. If we find that the care we have provided was not to the high standard we expect, we take action and ensure changes are implemented.

“Anyone who feels that their complaint has not been investigated properly is able to take their complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).”