Phillip Unwin, 68, died just 24 hours after being rushed to Royal Stoke University Hospital with fever and chest pains as family watched helplessly
Phillip Unwin passed away in April last year
The heartbroken relatives of a grandfather who was ‘abandoned to perish’ in his hospital bed have spoken out about their devastating bereavement. Phillip Unwin died at Royal Stoke University Hospital on April 3, 2024.
The 68 year old from Fulford had been transported to the medical facility the previous day after experiencing fever, breathing difficulties, and chest discomfort. Tragically, medics failed to determine the underlying cause promptly – resulting in his death within 24 hours.
An inquest determined that Phillip’s death occurred from natural causes. However, North Staffordshire area coroner Daniel Howe also highlighted ‘missed opportunities to escalate care in a timely manner’ and cautioned that additional patients could perish without intervention.
He insisted ‘action to be taken’ to avoid future preventable fatalities. Daughter Lynsey Gould, 44, reveals the family has been ‘shattered’ by the catastrophe, reports Stoke on Trent Live.
She said: “My dad was getting on a bit, but he was generally a well man. He still played sports with his grandson and lived an active lifestyle. He had asthma, but it was under control. His chest was hurting, so he took some emergency antibiotics and steroids he had in the house. But they weren’t making him feel any better. My mum called 101 and they sent an ambulance because they suspected he’d had a heart attack. When he arrived at the hospital that was quickly ruled out.
“He was admitted onto the resuscitation ward. My mum stayed with him throughout the night. She noticed his condition was deteriorating. The doctors said they thought it was a urine infection. But they said they’d take him to the critical care ward so he could have some strong antibiotics. But this didn’t happen.”
Jennifer Unwin, who had been married to Phillip for half a century, watched ‘helplessly’ as his health declined and felt her desperate pleas for help were dismissed by the medical staff.
“It was as if nobody cared,” she lamented. “I was constantly trying to get the help of doctors and nurses, because I could see him deteriorate in front of my eyes. But nothing was done and it just got worse and worse.
“Eventually a doctor did come down. He took a look at him and said he was in a ‘moribund state’, meaning he was more or less dead. All because he’d just been left unattended in the resuscitation ward without a proper diagnosis. They rushed him up to the critical care ward and placed him into an induced coma.
“They ran several scans, which we were told didn’t reveal anything. Everyone kept saying they didn’t know what was wrong with him. His organs started failing and they soon said there was nothing they could do. He fought on his own for a bit, but he died shortly after.”
The cause of Phillip’s death was later confirmed by doctors as multi-organ failure, triggered by pneumonia.
His relatives are convinced this tragedy could have been avoided had his treatment been prioritised earlier – a conclusion supported by the coroner’s findings. Jennifer now admits she has ‘lost all faith’ in the healthcare system.
She continued: “I truly believe that if he was looked at properly sooner, he’d still be with us today. If a doctor had taken a proper look at him, they’d have been able to see he had pneumonia. But they just left it until it was too late.
“I’ve got PTSD from what I witnessed that day. Sometimes I just want to die, because there’s nothing else I want to live for anymore. Everything has just been taken away. I was just coming up to retirement, and we had so many plans. Now they won’t ever happen.
“The week before this, one of our two little dogs was poorly. She was having seizures and she died. But what stuck out to me was that our dog had better care at the vets than my husband did in the hospital.
“If I’d got the money, I’d have enlisted a solicitor. But I’m on my own now and I can’t afford that kind of help. So the hospital wins. But something needs to change. Better training, more staff, more diligence, I don’t know. Because this will keep happening. How long until somebody else dies? It’s got to stop somewhere.”
Lynsey continued: “It’s had a massive impact on the family. My son looked up to him as his father figure and he was the light of my mum’s life. He was a fit and healthy man who held us all together. We’re all still suffering from his loss. My mum will never be the same. She’s a shell of who she was before.”
University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust has acknowledged the coroner’s findings and implemented changes accordingly. The trust has rolled out a ‘named-nurse’ approach along with a fresh system enabling worried relatives to demand an urgent medical assessment.
Royal Stoke’s chief medical officer Dr Diane Adamson stated: “We offer our sincere condolences to Mr Unwin’s family and apologise that some aspects of care were not as they should have been. We have met with the family and will continue to work with them if they wish. Since Mr Unwin’s death, we have introduced Call for Concern (Martha’s Rule) to support patients and families; reintroduced a named nurse model in resus; and strengthened our staffing processes to ensure safe, responsive care. We are focused on learning from this case and making the improvements necessary to provide the safe, high-quality care that our patients and their families rightly expect.”