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Family disgust as dad's N&N hospital bed is replaced with chair

Liz Reid Alexander Red sitting in a grey hospital chairLiz Reid
Mr Reid's family worry having to sit in a chair meant his leg swelling did not reduce as it should have

The family of a man whose bed was switched for a chair every day while in hospital say they fear it impacted his recovery.

Alexander Allan Reid, 84, was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital from his home in Wymondham and diagnosed with cellulitis.

His daughter said his bed was "wheeled away" every morning, forcing him to sit in a chair for up to 15 hours a day.

The hospital apologised for Mr Reid's experience.

"I'm disgusted and quite angry," his daughter, Liz Reid, said.

"They gave him IV antibiotics and diagnosed him with cellulitis, it's quite dangerous, it can kill you."

Ms Reid said her father, who was based on the Loddon Ward before being discharged on Sunday, was forced to sit in a chair all day because staff removed the beds every morning and brought them back at night.

The hospital said it was to "prevent deconditioning and to support early discharge home".

However, Ms Reid believed that due to her father's condition, a type of skin infection that causes swelling and blisters, he should have been in a bed to elevate his legs to help reduce the swelling.

"On Sunday he was sitting in a chair with his feet on a footstool, that's not elevated enough," she said.

"The swelling increased rather than decreased."

Ms Reid said when she questioned a nurse about it she was told that it was "the service offered" on the ward and that her father could ask for a bed.

"He won't ask, he's that sort of generation, he doesn't want to rock the boat," she added.

"He's vulnerable. Vulnerable and at their mercy."

Andy Trigg/BBC Entrance to the Norfolk and Norwich HospitalAndy Trigg/BBC
The hospital's interim chief nurse apologised for Mr Reid's experience

Rachael Cocker, the hospital's interim chief nurse, urged Mr Reid's family to raise their concerns with the hospital so they could "learn from individual experiences".

"Our Older Persons Medicine Service, which compromises ward bed areas and our Older Persons Ambulatory Care Service (OPAC) are designed to have a greater emphasis on ambulatory care and treatment, with the aim to prevent deconditioning and to support early discharge home," she said.

"This means that patients are supported to specialist chairs during the day in the OPAC area."

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