Infirmary sorry for ‘catastrophic error’

Leicester Royal Infirmary bosses admitted the failure after Lydia Spilner was admitted in January last year with a suspected chest infection and dehydration.

Over a four-week period her condition was allowed to deteriorate and her daughter’s desperate pleas for her mother to be put on a drip were repeatedly ignored until it was too late, the family’s lawyers said.

University Hospitals of Leicestershire NHS Trust has now admitted that Mrs Spilner died due to renal failure caused by dehydration and has paid her family an undisclosed out-of-court settlement.

Mrs Spilner’s daughter Nora said her mother, whose appearance did not betray her 100 years, was also shown little kindness from the nurses caring for her.

Sue Mason, divisional head of nursing at Leicester Hospitals, said: “We know that saying sorry won’t bring her back but we at least want her family to know that we will not avoid our responsibility, we are truly sorry.”