Family fury after gran aged 100 dies of thirst in hospital
A FAMILY last night criticised a hospital after a 100-year-old great-grandmother died from thirst because a water jug was broken.
Mrs Lydia Spilner went into hospital with a chest infection, but died four weeks later following a “catastrophic error” in care.
Her family claim they begged nurses at Leicester Royal Infirmary to put Mrs Spilner on a drip after she was left without access to water. But by the time she was finally hooked up to a drip, 10 days later, it was too late.
Her daughter, Nora Spilner, 55, claims that her mother was also subjected to a catalogue of other failures in basic care.
She said Mrs Spilner from Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire, was left lying in urine-soaked sheets for hours and with porridge caked in her hair on separate occasions.
The hospital has apologised to Mrs Spilner’s family and paid them an undisclosed out-of-court settlement.
Sue Mason, head of nursing at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said: “Our failure to give Mrs Spilner fluids was a catastrophic error for which we have apologised.”