Devastated family ask: Why didn't you tell us dad was dying?

THE family of a war veteran claim they were denied the chance to say goodbye to him because no one told them he was dying in hospital.

Malcolm Norris, 91, was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary on Friday, May 17, and died five days later from bronchial pneumonia. But his family did not find out until two days after his death.

Malcolm had been a resident at Bupa-run care home Saltshouse Haven, in east Hull.

Bupa said staff could not get through to the family when he was admitted to hospital, despite trying two numbers.

Instead, devastated relatives were informed he had died by a member of staff at the hospital.

Malcolm's son-in-law David Kerslake said: "I can't bear to think of him lying on his own with nobody to hold his hand.

"I feel they've taken that right away from us, to say goodbye."

Malcolm joined the Army when he was a teenager and served for 12 years, fighting in Egypt during the Second World War.

David, 40, said: "He was a great man, a fantastic bloke.

"He used to raise money for the Poppy Appeal – we raised one of the highest amounts in the country last time we collected.

"He couldn't see properly and was deaf towards the end but he could still give you an answer."

Malcolm was moved to the care home when he became increasingly frail, with about £800 of the monthly costs paid from family savings.

Malcolm's son-in-law, daughter Andrea and widow Jean, 85, were on holiday in Wales when he was first taken into hospital.

They returned home on Saturday, May 18.

Andrea, 47, said: "We took my mum with us to Abergavenny. We informed the care home we would be away. If we'd known anything was seriously wrong we would have been there.

"We live in Longhill, which is basically opposite the home – we could have been there in minutes and nobody contacted us at all."

They only knew Malcolm had been in hospital and died when a bereavement worker at Hull Royal Infirm- ary called Jean on Friday last week.

She checked her post later the same day and found two letters from Bupa, dated May 23 – one offering condolences for her loss and another billing her £616.02 for Malcolm's last weeks in the home.

In a statement, Bupa said staff had attempted to contact Malcolm's family but were unable to get through.

The family said the care home had mobile and landline numbers for David and Andrea.

But Vivienne Birch, deputy regional director of Bupa Care Homes, said: "The only two contact numbers we had for Mr Norris's next of kin were for his wife.

"When Mr Norris was admitted to hospital, we made a number of attempts to contact Mrs Norris. Unfortunately these calls were either unanswered or the number had been disconnected.

"We understand the hospital made similar attempts to contact Mrs Norris after her husband was admitted and, tragically, it appears these attempts were not successful until after Mr Norris's death."

Bupa apologised for any distress. Ms Birch said: "I would welcome the opportunity to meet Mrs Norris to discuss what happened.

"We are very sorry for the obvious distress she has been caused and we will review our procedures to ensure this does not happen again."