Elderly patient left on bedpan for days
By KATE BENSON
September 4, 2009
AN ELDERLY man is being treated for a life-threatening infection after he was allegedly left on a bedpan for as much as five days in a Sydney hospital.
The man, 80, from Gladesville, was forced to undergo two bouts of surgery after the green pan became embedded in his skin, causing massive ulcers on both buttocks and leaving him with a hole at the base of his spine big enough to fit two fists.
It is understood the man, a patient at Concord Repatriation General Hospital since early July, has limited English and was not able to inform staff the bedpan had not been removed. It is believed his family was told of the incident only two weeks after the pan was discovered and his buttocks had become severely infected, requiring surgery to debride the rotting skin.
The man was admitted with pneumonia and spent 19 days in intensive care and about seven days on a cardiac ward but it is believed the pan was discovered after he was transferred to a respiratory ward in early August.
The incident raises serious questions about whether the man, who was immobile, had been turned regularly to prevent bedsores, was washed or had his sheets changed during his time on the cardiac ward.
Lillian Jeter, from the Elder Abuse Prevention Association, said the case appeared to be one of ''severe negligence''.
''If this allegation is true, this man was subjected to significant elder abuse and mistreatment in a public place where he should have been getting care.''
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