'˜I've been in hospital for 16 months' says long-stay Milton Keynes patient

Herbert Dewdney, 70, was admitted to MK Hospital on Christmas Day 2016 suffering from severe pancreatitis.

He has been desperate to go home ever since, but claims his long stay is partly due to medical errors.

“I needed a stoma bag but they waited too long to fit it. By the time they did, my body was poisoned,” he alleged.

During the mammoth hospital stay, Herbert’s weight has dropped from almost 12 stone to seven stone. He is too weak to get out of bed and has no appetite to eat.

“It’s just so depressing. I feel like I live here. All I want to do is get strong enough to go home. But I’m too weak to look after myself so I have to stay in. Goodness knows how much longer I will be here.”

Herbert, who has five grandchildren, moved in with his partner, Patricia, at their Emerson Valley home shortly before he became ill.

“Patricia works so she can only get to see me once a week. I miss her,” he said.

Herbert has has been transferred to an Oxford hospital and a rehab centre on occassions – and even sent home for a couple of weeks – but each time he has become ill again and had to be quickly readmitted.

MK Hospital medical director Dr Ian Reckless said Mr Dewdney had currently been in hospital for four months following the latest readmission.

“This follows four previous stays in the last 16 months, with complex and chronic illness “treatment and care,” he said.

Dr Reckless added: “Mr Dewdney and his family have, this week, spoken to our senior nursing team about the care he is receiving currently and what his care and treatment plan is likely to be over the coming days and weeks. We will continue to work with Mr Dewdney and his family to ensure he gets the right care in the right setting and that concerns raised are fully addressed.”

The average cost of keeping a patient in a hospital bed is £400 a day. So far Herbert’s stay has cost the NHS an estimated £182,000.