A hospital has made "major changes" to its nursing care after an
inquest found failings led to the deaths of two patients, its chief
nurse said.
Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley strongly criticised the
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and said changes
needed to be made at the hospital following the deaths of Brian
Waller, 72, and Edward Warneford, 66.
Mr Waller died after falling out of bed at the Royal Sussex
County Hospital in Brighton, East Sussex, in April last year, while
a month later Mr Warneford died in the same ward after choking on
his false teeth.
Mr Waller, who was being treated for heart problems, fell out of
his hospital bed despite wearing a wrist band with "risk of falls"
written on it. He landed on his head, breaking his neck and
suffering a massive bleed on his brain which led to his death six
days later.
It was later discovered that one of the guard rails on his bed
had been left down.
Sherree Fagge, chief nurse for Brighton and Sussex University
Hospitals, admitted staff could have done better.
She said in a statement: "The circumstances surrounding the
deaths of these two patients were very different.
"However, what I see when I am on the wards is that the majority
of our nurses are working hard and carrying out their duties with
the kindness and compassion we would want for our own families but
we are also using this as a way of teaching our less experienced
nurses and picking up issues before they become problems."