Tragedy as man dies one week after being found injured on floor of hospital ward

A man who died after being found injured on the floor of a ward "should have been coming home" his devastated daughter has said.

Michelle Montrose's dad Ken, 73, was recovering from heart surgery when he was found collapsed in a Royal Hospital ward. The father of three had undergone a triple heart bypass at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital in February this year after suffering a

He was transferred to the Royal Liverpool Hospital on the morning of March 13 for kidney dialysis due to renal failure, a pre-existing condition which caused his kidneys to no longer function well. But just six hours after being transferred, he was reportedly found on the floor next to his bed on the nephrology ward.

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Michelle says it was not later that day that the full extent of her dad's injuries were discovered. She said: "He had broken ribs and a broken shoulder. They put him back into bed and the doctor never came to see him until 12pm, when they found he had a massive bleed on the head.

"At that point he suffered another cardiac arrest and they had to put him in an induced coma. We weren't called until 1pm and when we got to the hospital he was already in an induced coma. He wasn't in his room.

"No one seemed to know what was happened or what was going on. The ward manager came to talk to me and my brother, and they took us down to resuscitation where he was hooked up to a machine awaiting a second scan to his head."

She told : "They said his brain injury was too significant and he wouldn't wake up. He wouldn't survive. He got taken to intensive care where we were told the next 24 hours were critical. Not one member of staff came down to explain what had happened and what they were doing."

Ken died as a result of his brain bleed on March 21, just seven days after being admitted to the hospital. More than two months later, Michelle said she still has no idea how her dad had sustained his fatal injuries.

She said: "We don't know whether he fell, if he was dropped. We don't know if something fell on him. My dad couldn't get out of bed on his own. He couldn't walk, he couldn't sit up. He also suffered delirium, so he was often confused due to the medication he was on.

"He was on high dependency care at Broadgreen, and we understood he was going to the Royal to get that same treatment, but that didn't happen. When my brother got there to see what had happened, a nurse told him they were short-staffed and they were very busy.

"But my dad didn't have to go to the Royal that day if they didn't have the staff to look after him. He could've stayed where he was. My concern is that this ward is still operating with the same staff, the same equipment, and who is dealing with that? They just got my dad off the floor, cleaned him up and put him back into bed. They just put him back into bed.

"I'm absolutely devastated and angry that this happened. My dad couldn't even sit up by himself. He wasn't able to stand. He was getting hoisted in and out of bed. He was on special mattresses at Broadgreen and the staff had to turn him.

"To suffer such an injury that has basically killed him is devastating for the family, because he should have been recovering. He only went there for kidney dialysis and he should've been coming home. I want to make sure this doesn't happen again to anybody else.

"We're just absolutely traumatised. There's no other words we can say. My dad meant so much to all of us. It's just absolutely heartbreaking."

She said she had made a complaint to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), but had not yet heard back. A hospital spokesman said the incident remained under investigation.

Natalie Hudson, executive managing director at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, said: “I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Mr Montrose’s family.

"We take all safety incidents extremely seriously and a patient safety incident investigation is ongoing to address concerns Mr Montrose’s family have raised and we will remain in contact with them throughout this. We are also supporting the coroner with their inquiries ahead of a planned inquest later this year.”