The grieving family of a tragic Fife father of two are demanding answers from NHS Fife.
Alan Watt was 38 when he died at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, and relatives claim his health dramatically deteriorated because he was not given the appropriate care.
His sister Pamela Rowley (46) had nothing but praise for the treatment he received in other parts of the hospital but said he took a turn for the worse when he was moved to a certain ward.
“It was like they’d just forgotten about him,” she said..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 10%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: 800px; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 800px; }“He never had bed sores when he was anywhere else in the hospital, but when he went to this ward his elbows were all red and there was a sore on his shoulder.
“His skin was so dry and cracked. They took a scan of his bladder and there was 34 millilitres of fluid in his bladder. His body was so dehydrated and he couldn’t pee.”
Ms Rowley claims staff did not help her brother eat when he was too poorly to feed himself and said he was accused of “attention seeking” when he urinated on himself.
On the death certificate Mr Watt was said to have succumbed to a heart valve failure, liver congestion and a possible lung infection. The family said they were not warned about how grave Mr Watt’s condition was before he died.
They also believe the post-mortem examination on his body should not have been necessary because he had spent more than 13 weeks, from November 4 up until his death on February 5, in hospital.
Ms Rowley said the family was forced to postpone the funeral because they had to wait for his body to be released following the examination.
She said: “Every time we went in we would ask what was happening and be told they needed to do more tests. We never had a solid answer.”
She claimed there was a pair of soiled pyjama bottoms on the floor of the room where he died and she had to tidy up before her mother Laraine Watt (69) arrived.
Ms Rowley said she “would not rest” until she got answers for her brother, who leaves two daughters and a grandson.
“We’re going to lodge a formal complaint and are going right to the ombudsman.”