A LOVING daughter has spoken out after a painful three-year battle for justice over the hospital death of her “healthy” 101-year-old mother.

Ruby Radley, who was being looked after at Forest Dene care home in Hermon Hill, Wanstead, had living a full and active life when she was admitted to Whipps Cross Hospital in March 2009, following a fall, according to her daughter, Jeanette Radley-Kane.

She underwent an emergency double hip replacement procedure in 2009 but after the successful operation there was no room on the orthopaedic ward where she was due to undergo her rehabilitation and she was sent to a gynaecology ward.

Mrs Radley’s condition deteriorated and her daughter is haunted by the lack of respect she believes was shown to her mother in her final hours.

Th hospital has admitted Mrs Radley did not receive pain relief when required.

She also had her throat cleared of phlegm with a ‘yanking’ method and was not attended to by medical staff when she needed assistance.

Mrs Radley-Kane, of Tamar Square in Wanstead, said: “I never would have thought in my wildest nightmares she could have died in a hospital without any respect, without any care.

“The way in which she was treated she might as well have died alone, it made no difference that I was there.”

And Mrs Radley-Kane is angry at not being able to comfort her mother during the final moments of her life.

She added: “I have lived with this for three years now and it is beginning to affect my own health. I keep seeing the fear on her face in my mind.”

Despite complaining to the hospital, the General Medical Council and Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, she is yet to receive the apology from the doctor responsible for her mother’s care she said would help provide some closure.

Whipps Cross did apologise after admitting staff had been unprofessional and had not responded to Mrs Radley’s pain quickly enough.

However, Mrs Radley’s treatment has been described as “reasonable”.

Mrs Radley-Kane added: “If money could bring mother back then I would sue and have the money, but otherwise what is the point?

“A meeting face-to-face with the doctor responsible to receive an apology would help me.

“They keep telling me they have implemented changes relevant to her care and her life, but I want go to the hospital to see these changes for myself, to have them explained and demonstrated to me.”

A post-mortem revealed that Mrs Radley died of pneumonia.

A spokesman for Barts Health NHS Trust said: "The hospital once again extends its sincere condolences and apologies to Mrs Radley’s family.

We understand that whilst we have learnt lessons and made a number of significant improvements to patient care since Mrs Radley’s admission in early 2009 it does not lessen the distress the family is still experiencing.

Those improvements include our award-winning Patient Experience Revolution, launched in 2010, which has challenged and changed our values and behaviours and promotes a completely new way of caring for our patients.

We also understand that the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has tried to provide Mrs Radley’s family with some reassurance about the care and treatment her mother received and, in its opinion, could see no indication that the outcome could have been any different.

The hospital welcomes the involvement of patients and their relatives in assisting us to improve the patient experience at Whipps Cross, and we extend an invitation to Mrs Radley’s family to take up the opportunity to share their story should they wish to."

Click here to follow the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian on Twitter

Click here to follow the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian on Facebook