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Page last updated at 07:50 GMT, Thursday, 26 May 2011 08:50 UK

Is Ipswich NHS Trust failing elderly patients?

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Serious concerns have been raised by the NHS care regulator about the way some hospitals in England look after elderly patients.

The Care Quality Commission said three had failed to meet legal standards for giving patients enough food and drink and treating them in a dignified way.

One of the hospitals in this report by the Care Quality Commission is Ipswich NHS Trust.

Mrs Muriel Browning died there nearly two years ago. Her daughter Angela Laurence made an official complaint about the way she had been treated.

She described how her mother was left in a soiled bed in soiled nappies, leaving her with a rash that caused immense pain.

"This reduced her to such a state that she was saying 'I want to die, I want to die'," Mrs Lawrence recalled.

Responding to the story, Chief Executive of Ipswich NHS Trust Andrew Reed said they were "stopping that practice from happening".

"There were aspects of the care of Mrs Lawrence's mother that undoubtedly we got wrong and we absolutely apologise for that".

But he said the hospital has "a very good record" for the quality of care, and had improved the way it cared of elderly people.

Dame Jo Williams of the Care Quality Commission said that the Trust had 28 days to set out how it was going to put right the problems raised in the report.

The broader picture outlined by the Care Quality Commission's inspection of 100 hospitals found that 50% were doing a good job, but 10 to 20% "are non-compliant with the basic standards".


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