A man with Down’s Syndrome died after a hospital mistakenly failed to give him food for nine days, say his devastated family.
Adrian Poulton, 56, had undergone a hip operation at Poole Hospital in Dorset after a fall at his care home, and doctors reportedly marked him ‘nil by mouth’ in error.
After nine days of no food he died in hospital, the family said in an interview with ITV News.
His father Derek Poulton explained that because he was on a drip, and with the family not being medics, ‘we just naturally thought he was having nutrition, a feed’.
‘But as it turns out, they were starving him,’ he added.
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When they did realise what was happening, Adrian was already too ill to recover.
Lesley Bungay, Adrian’s sister, said: ‘We were just so worried. He was really poorly. He did look at me and dad… he said to me, “Lesley, I don’t want to die”. He knew he was going to die. It was just awful.’
An internal hospital investigation found a lack of nutrition contributed to Adrian’s death, which happened on September 28, 2021.
It recommended that training be improved with regard to specialist care for patients with learning disabilities across University Hospital Dorset NHS Trust, which Poole Hospital is part of.
Dr Peter Wilson, chief medical officer at the trust, told ITV News that the trust offers its ‘sincere condolences once again’ to the family and said it has apologised for the failings that resulted in Adrian’s death.
He added that at the time, the hospital undertook a serious incident investigation to identify any learning points.
Following the findings a number of changes have been implemented, which he said had been shared with the family.
Last month an NHS-funded report called Learning from Lives and Deaths, revealed that adults with learning disabilities are dying on average 20 years younger than the average population.
And 40% of those deaths were deemed ‘avoidable’.
Among common causes of avoidable deaths among adults with learning difficulties in 2023 were influenza, pneumonia, digestive tract cancers and heart disease.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, told the BBC at the time: ‘People with a learning disability and their families deserve better. In this day and age, no one should die early because they don’t get the right treatment.’
The charity is one of 16 non-profits and campaigners who have signed an urgent letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, urgin something be done to stop the collapse of the e Learning Disability Nursing workforce.
According to ITV News, which has seen the letter, it warns: ‘The profession is in crisis, and urgent intervention is needed to avoid imminent collapse.”
‘The Learning Disability nursing workforce has declined by 43% since records began in 2009.
‘If nothing changes, it is predicted by 2028 there will only be a tiny number of Learning Disability Nurses qualifying in England, with a pattern of reducing numbers in the other UK countries too.’
The Metro has contacted University Hospital Dorset NHS Trust for comment.