A VULNERABLE 99-year-old woman who was ‘kicked out’ of hospital following a heart operation is now living in a care home because she cannot face living at home.

Beaty Thompson was admitted to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester after suffering her third heart attack.

As previously reported in your Worcester News, Mrs Thompson was discharged less than 24 hours after having a pacemaker fitted, which members of her family say was far too soon.

Her son Barry Thompson said she needed two further hospital admissions following her discharge on September 20 – on October 15 for shortness of breath and October 18 for pneumonia.

She has left her flat in Warndon, Worcester, to live at a care home in Kidderminster, where her family say she is much happier.

Mr Thompson said the family have had a verbal apology from Jonathan Monks, the hospital services manager, but had yet to receive an official, written apology and no-one had yet apologised to his mother personally.

He said: “She couldn’t stay in the flat on her own and didn’t feel secure. If mum stayed in hospital after she had the pacemaker, would that have made a difference?

“My opinion is that it would have made a big difference.

“Mum is settled and happy at the home in Kidderminster. She will not be coming back from there.

“She has stated she doesn’t want to come home now and I believe this stems from her being kicked out of hospital.

“I will not let this just be brushed under the carpet. The whole issue of how elderly patients are discharged has to be reviewed.”

Ron Chambers, chairman of the Worcestershire Pensioner’s Action Group, said his father, the late John Chambers, was discharged from hospital too soon leading to him collapsing semi-conscious for two hours in 2008.

He said: “It’s bad enough for people who have got a family but what about those who haven’t got a family?

“This is about the forgotten people – the people with no family to ensure that the right policy is in place.

“If Beaty didn’t have a family, I dread to think what would have happened.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the family had lodged a formal complaint and the trust was reviewing information about the case.

She said the family had received a verbal apology from the medical director, been spoken to by one of the trust’s general managers and they have requested a review of the trust’s discharge policy.