Patient Stories

Dementia patient's hospital treatment 'degrading'

31 May 2011

A Scottish hospital has been severely criticised over the care of an 80-year-old woman with dementia.

The woman, known as Mrs V, has not been named to protect her family's identity.

Mrs V was admitted to a ward for the elderly at Ninewells in December 2008 after she developed a chest infection, which meant she had difficulty swallowing. She also had dementia. Over 11 days she was given no food and became increasingly agitated because she could not understand why people around her were eating. She was given sedatives rectally 57 times and by injection 29 times, an amount described in a report as "astonishing". Eventually, when she was allowed to eat small amounts, she became calmer and did not need as much sedation. The woman later died in hospital.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, which examined the case, said her treatment was degrading, unnecessary, and may have breached her human rights.The commission's report, Starved of Care, said Mrs V was given repeated, uncomfortable and undignified administrations of sedative medication.

Several recommendations for improvement and better training have been made and subsequent visits to the hospital found care had been improved.

Source/Publication: BBC Scotland News Online

Mrs V.