Elderly mum sleeps in stranger's bed after hospital discharges her to wrong home

22 September 2023 , 18:15

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Joyce Wright with her son, Andy, who has called for a full investigation

An elderly woman ended up spending the night in a stranger's bed after she was wrongly discharged from hospital.

Joyce Wright, 83, was taken to Boston Pilgrim Hospital in Lincolnshire, after she had a fall at her home in Sleaford on Monday, September 18. Her son, Andy, took her to A&E where she had a number of x-rays which all came back clear. Joyce, who also has bowel cancer, was then taken up to the discharge ward on Tuesday but was still in a lot of pain.

After heading home to get some rest, Andy, who is also from Sleaford, decided to ring up the hospital on Tuesday night and was told that his mum could not be discharged as she was still in pain. However, that night Joyce was mistakenly discharged and taken by ambulance to another patient's home in Skegness where she spent the night unattended.

Joyce Wright, 83, was in Pilgrim Hospital after suffering a fall

Andy told LincolnshireLive: "I was just making myself a cup of coffee on Wednesday morning when the ward rang and said they'd like to apologise as they'd discharged my mum to the wrong address." He says that East Midlands Ambulance Service had let themselves into the address using a key safe but Joyce was disorientated at the time having been on pain relief and morphine.

An ambulance took Joyce back to the hospital on Wednesday morning when Andy finally managed to speak to her over the phone. Andy said: "I got a text off my mum saying 'What a night I've had, I've been to Skeggy and back'. I gave her a ring and she said it's a pity she wasn't taken there last week when it was sunny.

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"She then said she'd slept the night in somebody else's bed and that was the first I knew that she'd spent the whole night out there. When I was first called at 8.10am by the hospital, I was absolutely fuming. When my mum told me she'd slept in someone else's bed I just couldn't believe what she was telling me. I couldn't quite believe it until I actually got to a hospital and heard it from a nurse."

Andy Wright said he was "absolutely shocked" to discover his mum had been discharged to a stranger's home

He says the patient in the room next to his mum is the one who should've been discharged, but there had been a mix-up. Joyce has since been discharged from Pilgrim Hospital and taken to a hospital in Spalding where she is being rehabilitated and is in "good spirits".

Andy is calling for a full investigation into the incident and has received backing from the Conservative MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, Caroline Johnson. He says he doesn't want anyone to lose their jobs over the situation but wants measures put in place to ensure that it never happens again.

Michelle Harris, Chief Operating Officer at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, and Joy Weldin, Divisional Director of Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services at East Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We have spoken with both patients and their families to offer our heartfelt and sincere apologies.

"This incident clearly falls below the standard of care we want to deliver, and a full review is underway to ensure it does not happen again. When the review is complete, in line with Duty of Candour, we will share the findings with the patients and their families."

Joe Griffin