Apology issued after Boston Pilgrim Hospital patient (72) transported to wrong address
An organisation that oversees Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital has issued an apology after a 72-year-old patient was left in the lobby of a housing complex, rather than be transferred to another healthcare site as planned.
Rosalind Armiger, a former Sutterton resident, was due to be taken to Spalding’s Johnson Community Hospital on the evening of Thursday, February 20.
The grandmother-of-seven was admitted to Pilgrim Hospital in December following a fall that left her with fractures to her back and pubic bone.
After about five weeks, she was transferred to the Johnson Community Centre for further rehabilitation support. However, on the day she was due to be moved to a care home, she fell and hit her head.
She was then transferred to Pilgrim Hospital to have a CT scan.
Following the scan and other tests, the family were told she showed signs of dementia and that she may have had a mini stroke at some point.
The family say the hospital knew Rosalind was supposed to return to the Johnson Community Hospital.
However, it booked a taxi to take her to her home at the time, a housing complex in Spalding.
There, she was left – without shoes, a coat, or a key to enter her flat. This was despite pleas to the taxi driver to take her to the hospital, her family said.
Rosalind, who had no mobility at this time, struggled to contact her family through her mobile phone – partly through her health, but also due to the availability of a phone signal.
Eventually, she was able to reach them, but not before she had spent two hours in the lobby alone.
The family of Rosalind contacted The Standard to speak out against what they described as her ‘digusting treatment’.
“We wanted people to be made aware of what happened to us and we don’t want it happening to anyone else,” they said.
“People who are discharged from hospital should be taken to the correct address and should be made to feel safe, not to be treated like an Amazon parcel thrown from pillar to post.”
In response, Nerea Odongo, group chief nurse for Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group, said: “I would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mrs Armiger and her family for the recent incident, which clearly fell below the standard of care we want to deliver.
“We are investigating what has happened, and as part of the investigation process will continue to speak directly to Mrs Armiger and her family about any concerns they have about her care.”
The family said the taxi company involved in the incident was Boston’s Acorn Taxis.
A spokesman for Acorn Taxis said: “We reported this incident with the transport unit at the hospital the following morning having heard what the family had to say when they contacted us.
“This matter is with the hospital to now investigate.”