HOSPITAL staff have apologised to the family of a 70-year-old man for the care he received before he died.
Graham Bowler was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer before he fell at his home in Barnes Crescent, Sutton-in-Ashfield, in November 2009.
He was behaving in a confused manner when he was taken into King's Mill Hospital and staff discovered he had a "dangerously high" blood sugar level of 100 – the highest senior doctors at the hospital had ever seen.
Despite Mr Bowler's condition, a consultant did not see him for 12 hours – four hours longer than the hospital's own target.
Blood from the fall was not washed off his face during his 20 hours in hospital and one member of staff who tried to remove his oxygen mask asked the family "Do you think this will kill him?"
His family did not know he then suffered a cardiac arrest before he died.
Hospital staff apologised for the way he was treated during an inquest into his death at Nottingham Coroner's Court.
Julie Dixon, head of nursing in the emergency department at King's Mill, said: "We are sorry you had this experience. The questions may have been asked by a junior member of staff or someone who was not trained adequately."
She also apologised for the delay in seeing a consultant, adding: "There had been a communication breakdown between doctors, consultants and nursing staff in this particular case."
However, Dr Nabeel Ali, a consultant at the hospital, pointed out the hospital had only breached its own target for seeing a consultant.
National guidelines require patients to be seen by a consultant within 12 hours of their arrival at hospital.
He said: "We were not happy with the way Mr Bowler was not seen for a longer than usual period and we have had a serious review into how we do things.
"Of course we apologise to the family for the delay.
"But it is also important to remember that the national requirement says patients must be seen within 12 hours of arrival.
"At King's Mill we set ourselves a higher standard than is required nationally and we fell short of that this time."
Dr Ali added that Mr Bowler's treatment would not have been any different if he had seen a consultant sooner.
"The treatment he was administered would have been exactly the same treatment, I, as a consultant, would have given him.
"The only difference being, had I seen him earlier, I would have ordered for more blood tests to be done, so we could track his blood levels more closely.
"But with a blood sugar level that high, his chances of survival were always slim."
Assistant deputy coroner for Notts, Stephanie Jane Haskey, recorded a verdict of natural causes.
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