Son visits Princess Royal Hospital ward and finds mother gone
A concerned son who went to a Shropshire hospital to visit his ill mother over the festive period was shocked to be told she had been moved elsewhere.
Phil Hill went to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford to visit his 91-year-old mother, Grace, on December 21 but found the bed she had been in the night before was empty. He was told she had been moved to Bridgnorth Hospital.
Mr Hill, from St Georges, said he was amazed he had not been informed beforehand.
He said: "I went to the bed where my mother was the night before in Ward 12, and her bed was empty.
"I went to the nurses' station and they said there was no-one there by that name on the ward.
"After waiting about 10 to 15 minutes, I was told there was someone of my mother's name on Ward 12 last night but she had been moved to Bridgnorth Hospital.
"I couldn't believe it. I thought it would have been common courtesy for someone to have phoned me as the listed next of kin. I haven't had chance to make a complaint yet as I've been visiting her in hospital."
Mr Hill found his mother lying on the floor of her home in Albrighton on December 15. She was taken to Princess Royal Hospital, where she received treatment for an infection before being moved to Bridgnorth.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust spokesman Chris Hudson said: "Our aim is to make sure patients get the right care in the right place at the right time.
"It is important that the patient, their family or carer, is kept at the centre of the discharge planning process and involved in their discharge planning.
"A key part of this involves ensuring those patients who no longer require the specialist care provided in an acute hospital environment are discharged to the most appropriate setting.
"This may be to another care provider in the community or to their own home."
