A chief nurse has offered an apology to the family of an elderly man who died in hospital, after his final hours were “disturbed” by another patient who “burst into his cubicle and demanded to know why they were there”.

The nurse has also said “sorry” after the man’s stepdaughter claimed she was “booted unceremoniously out of the hospital,” just 30 minutes after her stepfather died.

Barrie Ibbetson was admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital before Christmas following a fall at his home in Colne. 

His stepdaughter and only surviving relative, Sue Martin, who lives just outside Cambridge, had been driving up regularly to visit him. On Friday January 5, she was contacted by his carer to say his condition had worsened and he was unlikely to survive the weekend.

Sue said: “The carer told me that the hospital said I could stay the night with him and that they would provide a bed for me next to his.

“I arrived at the hospital and sat with Barrie for the rest of the day and evening, holding his hand and gently talking to him but I could see that he was failing.”

During the course of the afternoon and evening, Sue said a patient on the same ward was walking around, “annoying other patients, and sitting on their beds”.

She said he then, “disappeared out of the ward only to be brought back by security, and at one point he gathered up his bedding and insisted on taking another bed, generally being a nuisance”.

Lancashire Telegraph: Sue Martin, Barrie's stepdaughter Sue Martin, Barrie's stepdaughter (Image: Sue Martin)

According to Sue, the nurse on duty was, “incredibly patient with the man”, but she had concerns that he should not be on that ward.

She went on: “Anyway, no bed had arrived for me, despite numerous calls to the relevant department by the duty nurse so, with her help, we pulled a recliner next to the bed and I prepared to get myself comfortable for the night.

“Around 10pm, the curtains were pulled around as Barrie’s breathing had become weaker.

“The lights were dimmed, and the nurse asked the other patient, who was still wandering around, to go back to his own bed.

“He refused and as Barrie lay there dying, the other patient burst through the curtains and demanded to know why we were in there.

“Both myself and the nurse were attending to a dying man, but this patient refused to leave. There was no-one available to remove him. I admit, at that point I yelled at him to GET OUT.”

Sadly, Barrie died at 10.10pm on Friday January 5, but Sue claims that half an hour later she was told she had to gather Barrie’s belongings and leave the hospital.

Lancashire Telegraph: Barrie Ibbetson Barrie Ibbetson (Image: Sue Martin)

She continued: “I had nowhere to go, I was 200 miles from home, no family left up there, I don’t know Blackburn at all, it was freezing cold and pouring with rain, plus I was in no fit state to drive anywhere.

“I was told it was protocol, and had two hours from his death to leave. I asked if I could just put my head down in the waiting room until dawn.

“The nurse went to ask her superior if I could stay but was told no. I had no choice but to leave.”

Sue then had to carry her handbag, overnight bag, plus two large bags filled with Barrie’s personal belongings back to her car, on her own, with no help, which she said was “incredibly difficult”.

She added: “I believe my treatment by Royal Blackburn Hospital to be absolutely heartless and outrageous. What happened to our caring NHS? Who made the actual decision to boot me out?

“I understand that the beds might be needed at the drop of a hat, emergencies happen, but I wasn’t asking for a bed, just a chair or sofa on which to lie for a few hours.”

Sue said she is now pursuing the matter further with the trust, and is demanding special rules be put in place to protect those who have been assured a place to sleep and are then, in her words, “booted unceremoniously out due to the person they are there for, dying at an unsocial hour”.

Jed Pollard-Walton, deputy chief nurse at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, said: "There is no apology I can make that will lessen the pain felt by Barrie's family following his death. We are sorry his family felt his final hours were not as peaceful as they could have been.

"Although we can't comment on individual patients, we will look into what happened and would appeal to Sue to talk to us directly about her experiences.

“I know the nursing team will be devastated to hear how she felt when she left the hospital but sadly there is no general overnight accommodation available for relatives.

"I want to provide some assurance that our teams work incredibly hard to care for all patients, make them as comfortable as possible and support their families and loved ones. I am sorry that Sue felt let down."