A CORONER has said better monitoring should have been given to an elderly Eastbourne man who died from dehydration at the DGH.
Eighty three-year-old Anthony Freshney, who suffered from dementia and Parkinson's disease, went into the DGH after falling down the stairs at his home in Vian Avenue.
He died on January 22, 2009 after two days of no food and drink and an inquest i
nto his death was heard on Thursday (March 11).
Stella Freshney, who had been married to Anthony for around 57 years, told deputy coroner Joanna Pratt that before he was admitted to hospital she had been caring for him at home and he was totally dependant on her.
She said, "He was very pleasant but because of the dementia he wasn't the man he used to be.
"He had no short term memory whatsoever which meant that he would have his lunch and then half an hour later he would ask for his lunch because he could not remember having eaten it."
Mrs Freshney said on January 11 he had said he wanted to go to bed early so she went upstairs to turn down the bed and put his nightwear on the radiator. She told Miss Pratt she expected her husband to slowly follow her up the stairs as usual but then she heard a thud and found he had fallen.
"He was spread-eagled," said Mrs Freshney. "He had hit his head and it was bleeding and he wasn't conscious."
She phoned for an ambulance and when he was admitted to hospital he was alert but it was found that he had suffered a fracture in his neck.
Mrs Freshney said she went to see her husband everyday in hospital and hadn't noticed that he was refusing to eat or drink.
She said, "I trusted the hospital to make sure he was eating and drinking.
"He did have trouble communicating and I used to tell him to squeeze my hand to let me know he could hear me. One day I said I was going home and he said 'take me with you' - I think that was the last thing he said."
Notes by the nursing staff showed that attempts had been made to help Mr Freshney eat and drink during the first part of his stay in hospital. The notes suggested he had not had anything to eat and drink in the last two days of his life.
Senior staff nurse Michael Smith said Mr Freshney would not tolerate the collar he was supposed to be wearing for his neck injury and would often need lots of encouragement with his eating and drinking. He agreed, that it appeared from the notes, Mr Freshney had not had anything to eat or drink in the final days of his life.
Dr Rick Veasey, specialist registrar, said intravenous fluids were considered but Mr Freshney had been non-compliant with cannulas in the past and would not have tolerated a line.
Dr Christopher Moffat, the pathologist who carried out the post mortem at Eastbourne DGH, said the cause of death was acute kindney failure caused by dehydration. He added that there were other contributing factors including heart problems, dementia, Parkinson's and the fracture that he sustained on January 11. Dr Moffat also told Miss Pratt Mr Freshney's hospital notes were in 'disarray' but showed that his sodium level had jumped up considerably shortly before his death, indicating that he was dehydrated.
Miss Pratt said, "I am going to enter a narrative verdict on the evidence I have heard.
"There ought to have been specific monitoring of the deceased's fluid intake and output and or regular bio-chemistry or blood tests carried out to monitor his level of hydration."
A hospital spokesperson said after the inquest, "We would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of Mr Freshney.
"The trust recognises that there are, on occasions, challenges to precisely monitoring fluids with some patients and we are revaluating how we deal with these cases."
