Family calls for investigation after seven failed hospital discharges

A family is calling for a full investigation after their 82-year-old mother was discharged from hospital seven times without proper care plans in place.

Anne Bridget Howard, who was living in Semington Road in Melksham, was repeatedly sent home from the Royal United Hospital (RUH) despite being frail, visibly unwell, and mentally disoriented. The family say she was left at serious risk on multiple occasions.

“My mum had six failed discharges between January and June,” said her daughter Anita.

“In her final discharge, she was sent home with no check that she could transfer independently. She was left in soiled bedding without food or water, and the carers didn’t arrive until 2pm. Ten hours later, she was rushed back in with sepsis and pneumonia. The RUH admitted they failed to spot another infection. She nearly died.”

Anita says she fought for her mother to go into respite care at Little Manor in Salisbury, operated by Wiltshire Council. Even then, the family say decisions about her care were confusing and delayed due to funding issues.

“She then had a fall, cutting her head above her eye, and was taken to A&E. They discharged her the same day without a scan, despite no one being at home to care for her. It’s just horrific,” Anita added.

The family also described difficulties with missed or late care visits, unreturned calls, and poor communication between agencies. They are now calling for any further discharges to be halted until an independent clinical and safeguarding review is completed.

“I just want the story to be out there so it’s not happening to anyone else. My mum could have died twice in these seven failed discharges. Everyone blames everybody else, but we have got to stop blaming people,” said Anita.

Anne moved to Melksham at the start of the Covid pandemic. Her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease, is in Brookside Care Home. She is now based in a care home in Marlborough and is due to move to London to be with her family.

“She feels safer where she is, but she has been having panic attacks worrying about what will happen next,” said Anita. “She is excited to move to London, but the RUH and Wiltshire Council have treated her terribly. My mum has worked hard all her life and has been abandoned by the system.”

A spokesperson for the Royal United Hospital said, “We are committed to providing a high quality, safe and co-ordinated approach to discharging patients from hospital care, whether that is to their own home or elsewhere. We work directly with the people we care for, their family, carers, ward staff, clinicians and community partners to understand a patient’s medical, physical and psychosocial needs. Our discharge team ensures the appropriate pathway so that patients are discharged safely to a suitable environment and receive any relevant health and social care support required when leaving hospital.

“We are very sorry that we did not get things right and apologise for the distress this caused to Anne and her family. We are really grateful to Anne’s daughter for approaching us with her concerns. We were able to meet with Anne’s daughter so that we could listen and learn from this experience and we are committed to continuing to improve our discharge process for the people we care for.”

Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Cllr Gordon King, said, “We want every family to feel confident that their loved ones are well cared for. We work closely with families and healthcare professionals to plan safe and supported discharges from care homes. Our skilled team carries out assessments and rehabilitation to ensure each person is ready and prepared.

“Care providers are regularly monitored through a strong quality assurance process, and discharge decisions are based on each resident’s individual needs. While we can’t comment on specific cases, any health concerns are always discussed with the relevant GP.”