A DAUGHTER has claimed her elderly father was left ‘screaming in pain’ after being discharged from Worcestershire Royal Hospital without an 'adequate care plan' or the required permission.

87-year-old John Butterfield, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, a heart condition and poor eyesight, is being cared for by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

His daughter Charlotte Morgan who is the health and wellbeing power of attorney for her father along with her sister Catherine Mitchel, has claimed the Trust have discharged Mr Butterfield, who is from Worcester, without informing her or her sister.

Mr Butterfield lives alone in Worcester and his daughters both live outside of the city - Charlotte in Northampton and Catherine in Glasgow.

Charlotte said: “My father was initially admitted to the hospital in 2018 for two weeks over the Christmas period as his legs had gone black.

“At that point we were told he had a heart condition because it was not working the body as it should be, and it affected his kidneys.

“They then said he had arthritis and gout in his knees.

“He received treatment at the hospital, but our family expressed concerns about his return home as we don’t live in Worcester and were assured that a sufficient home care package would be put in place.

“We also strongly requested that a discharge date be advised in advance to either myself or my sister so that we could make arrangements for someone to travel to his house and get basic essentials in for him and ensure he was looked after adequately.

“We were repeatedly told that my father would not be discharged without our knowledge.

“However, Catherine’s husband popped into the hospital on the day they were returning to Glasgow to say goodbye and found my father sat in a wheelchair in his ward awaiting transportation home by taxi.

“No one had informed us that he was being discharged and no home care package was in place. He was being sent home to a house that had not been used for over two weeks, with no food in the cupboards and no family with any knowledge that he would have been at home alone.

“After many phone calls and emails my sister and I managed to organise a homecare package between the hospital, district nurses and GP ourselves with no assistance from any medical professional."

Charlotte said in August 2020 Mr Butterfield was admitted back to Worcestershire Royal with painful and swollen knees and was then discharged “with a homecare package that was completely inadequate for his needs as an elderly person with health conditions.”

“I arrived at his house to find him in the lounge distressed, confused with over 20 various tablets all over the lounge floor which should have been taken over the previous 48 hours,” Charlotte said.

“He therefore had not been getting the medication into his system that he so desperately needed, and no one had helped him with this.

“He had been unable to climb the stairs to bed and was screaming in pain when trying to, so opted to sleep in his armchair.”

Charlotte says that during her father’s third admission to Worcestershire Royal in December last year, after his assessment they were told he had osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and an infection in his knee, as well as thrush in his mouth and two abscesses in his gums with teeth needing to be removed.

He also had several ulcers on his legs that had become infected, and he had a 'bubble' behind his retina.

Charlotte said: “He was discharged within a few days and on this occasion, he was discharged with a care package in place. I cannot reiterate enough the amount of times my sister and I had asked for some contact but again we were clueless as to what was happening with his care and his discharge.

“He was once again sent home without our knowledge. When I visited him at home the next day I was shocked at the state of the sores on his legs.”

Charlotte said her father was readmitted to hospital again earlier this month.

“I received a call from my sister on February 15 to say that he was probably being discharged that evening but no idea what time and more importantly we had no time to make any arrangements to be at his house for his arrival. I also had a call from my father to say he was being discharged but nothing from any medical professional.

“My sister and I received no call what so ever and my father was sent home in an ambulance on Monday (February 15) night at 10pm in freezing conditions with no one at home or any arrangements being made to be with him."

Charlotte said Mr Butterfield has now been readmitted to hospital for the fifth time in seven months where he is currently being treated.

“I am not a medical professional and I don't work with elderly people but what I do know is that my father has been treated appallingly,” said Charlotte.

Vicky Morris, Chief Nursing Officer at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re sorry to hear that the family of Mr Butterfield are unhappy with the care he has received with us so far.

“We take all complaints about patient care very seriously and will investigate these concerns fully, reporting our findings back to the family as well as identifying any improvements we can make to keep improving patient care.”