Rachael Evans
A woman says her family have been unable to grieve the death of her grandmother after a “hospital nightmare”.
Lilian Evans, 90, was taken to Wrexham Maelor hospital on 25 August after vomiting blood. However, A&E staff admitted her for a UTI she did not have, according to her granddaughter.
Rachael Evans, 37, expressed that the lack of care given to her grandmother
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has since apologized for these failures.
Rachael, from Wrexham, described her grandmother as an independent woman who adored her King Charles Spaniel, Meg.
Lilian had just celebrated her 90th birthday the week before her hospitalization and maintained an active lifestyle, walking three times a day even after Meg had to be put down.
Despite having dementia, Rachael later found that Lilian had provided incorrect information to A&E staff, something Rachael learned after obtaining her grandmother’s medical records posthumously.
“There was not one test that showed that she had a UTI; they completely glossed over the fact that she was vomiting blood,” said Rachael.
“That didn’t seem to be an issue for them, and they just went along with it even though they wrote down that she didn’t have any symptoms of the UTI.”
Rachael claimed her gran was “fully continent” before her hospitalization.
“When we went in the next morning, she was in a huge pad—not even a nappy, it didn’t close on either side.”
Lilian had lost her appetite and was given nutrient-rich drinks, but the cream-based options caused stomach aches. Rachael requested juice alternatives, yet, “whenever we’d go, they’d have the cream ones in front of her.” She voiced concerns about the nurses making her grandmother consume them.
Lilian’s medication was left unattended in an unlocked cabinet, some of which could have posed serious harm if consumed by the wrong person, Rachael highlighted.
Despite her repeated requests for safety, she found the medication cabinet unlocked multiple times.
Rachael only discovered her grandmother was on end-of-life care after asking a staff member how she was doing—nobody had informed the family.
“It was absolutely horrific,” she said.
“Every day we’d go and there’d be something else.”
“If I didn’t have the evidence here, I don’t think anybody would actually believe us regarding what went on there.”
In the days leading up to Lilian’s death, a fellow patient tested positive for Covid.
Lilian tested positive on a lateral flow test on 18 September, but a subsequent report claimed that the test had been registered in error—”please ignore,” it stated.
“They went on to give her blood thinning injections, and she started vomiting up blood again,” Rachael stated.
“If she didn’t have Covid, she wouldn’t have needed the blood thinning injections, and she wouldn’t have started bringing up the blood again.”
Lilian passed away on 20 September, with the cause of death listed as pneumonia.
“The issue surrounding her death was very suspicious to me. I still haven’t got to the bottom of it,” Rachael remarked.
The notes indicated she had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and that she had received blood tests suggesting a heart attack—information Rachael and her family were unaware of.
“We still don’t know if she did or if she didn’t, because the hospital now refuses to answer my questions,” Rachael stated.
The records also revealed that on the night Lilian died around 22:00, night staff signed documentation indicating they had checked on her at 00:30, 03:30, and 06:30 the following morning.
This leads Rachael to believe staff signed the form at the beginning of their shift, avoiding the need to check on Lilian subsequently.
“This was heart-breaking as my gran was very anxious, so to think of her on her own shouting for help and not getting any is awful,” Rachael said.
The records indicated that despite A&E staff noting Lilian was able to make her own decisions, a nurse later sought a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards order.
An assessment determined that Lilian did not require this order, yet subsequent reports mentioned one being in place.
Rachael, along with her family members, held power of attorney, but they were not informed of this action.
In July, she met with the Health Board after raising concerns regarding her grandmother’s care.
She reported that the board attempted to “gloss over” the issues and ultimately decided not to respond to her inquiries after 11 weeks.
Rachael criticized the hospital’s communication and documentation, often citing errors in Lilian’s name and details.
“This has taken over…it’s been over a year now since my gran died, and we’ve still not got all of the answers.”
“It is very difficult to grieve when you don’t really know what’s happened— they didn’t tell us anything when she was in hospital, and now they’re refusing to tell us after she’s died.”
Carol Shillabeer, chief executive of Betsi, stated, “On behalf of the Health Board, I sincerely apologize to Ms Evans’ family for the failures identified in her care and treatment; we fell short of the standard that should be expected.”
The case has been referred to the ombudsman, who has been approached for comment.
5f6-0 fYAfXe”>This request for a safeguards order raises concerns regarding her capacity to make informed decisions about her own care, especially considering the previous notes from the A&E staff that stated otherwise.
Rachael emphasized that her grandmother was alert and communicative during visits, casting doubt on the need for such measures. “My gran could understand everything we said, and she could respond appropriately. We didn’t see any signs that showed she needed to be deprived of her liberty,” she explained.
In light of these experiences, Rachael has called for an investigation into her grandmother’s treatment and the hospital’s overall protocols regarding care for elderly patients. She aims to bring attention to the systemic flaws that may affect other vulnerable patients in similar situations.
“I want to ensure no one else has to go through what we did. Losing my gran is hard enough, but knowing she suffered unnecessarily is unbearable,” Rachael asserted.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board released a statement acknowledging the concerns raised and expressed a commitment to learn from this incident to improve patient care in the future. The family, however, seeks more than just assurances and is currently exploring their legal options.
As the family continues to navigate their grief, Rachael hopes that sharing her grandmother’s story will lead to tangible changes within the healthcare system, preventing similar situations from occurring again.
“We need accountability for what happened. I loved my gran, and she deserved better,” Rachael concluded.