An elderly patient was diagnosed as malnourish after being starved at Royal Bournemouth Hospital in Dorset, according to the Daily Mail.
Other elderly patients were found in non-conducive conditions, wherein they were either left naked on soiled sheets or were forced to wet their beds after several calls for assistance were left unanswered. The terrible news story broke out after the Care Quality Commission, which inspects hospitals, visited in October. The inspection, which lasted for two days, singled out wards three and 26 and claimed that the two were in a particularly bad condition and was also understaffed.
The report stated: "One person on ward three told us they had come to visit their relative and had been surprised to find they had a sign above their bed saying, 'nil by mouth', which told staff not to offer this patient food or fluids orally. The relative had questioned this with a nurse, who told them that their relative was due to undergo an investigation, which meant that they couldn't eat or drink. They then asked the nurse to find out what this investigation was.
When the nurse returned they said that the patient was not in fact meant to be 'nil by mouth' but that the sign had been left on the bed from a previous patient. This meant that the patient had missed breakfast and lunch, and had not received fluids since their admission to the ward. The concerned relative went on to say that although this mistake was discovered at two in the afternoon, when they returned to the ward at seven in the evening, their relative still had not been given water to drink." A dementia patient became malnourished simply because they could not reach their food and drinks and were not provided with any help or assistance from the hospital's staff.
