AN elderly Stourbridge widow is calling for a thorough investigation following the death of her husband after the boss of the borough’s main hospital admitted the nurse caring for him “did not have the experience” to handle the situation.

Enid Saunders was heartbroken after losing her husband of more than 50 years, Fred, who passed away a few days after being admitted to Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital with a leg infection.

Retired headteacher Mrs Saunders, of Hyperion Road, Stourton, said her husband's unexpected passing was distressing enough - but to compound her grief she claims the treatment she and Mr Saunders received on the night he died was “terrible”.

The South African born grandmother claims the nurse on duty wanted to give retired post office and British Telecom worker Mr Saunders his prescribed dose of antibiotics - 35 minutes after he had died.

"He's dead", she said she wailed at the nurse but claims it took repeated attempts to convince her the drugs were no longer needed.

Mrs Saunders also says her husband seemed to suffer a fit - after the same female nurse removed his oxygen mask and gave him a nebuliser at around 10.15pm - just minutes before he died on Wednesday May 23.

The 75-year-old widow said Mr Saunders began jolting and shaking and she was asked to leave the ward while the nurse made him more comfortable - so she nipped to the toilet.

But as she was walking back, she says, the nurse was running towards her saying: "come quickly - your husband's breathing isn’t good but he still has a pulse".

Mrs Saunders said she raced as fast as she could to her husband's bedside but she knew as soon as she got there she was too late.

She said "On entering the ward at 10.25pm my sons and I were shocked. He was dead. A child would have known he’d passed away. He wasn’t breathing or moving; he was a corpse. It was agonising.”

She said the family were then left to sob to themselves for what seemed like ages. She said: “Nobody came and said sorry – we weren’t comforted, we were just left to sit there; there were no cups of tea or anything. It was terrible.”

She said it was nearly an hour later before anyone came to confirm the death at 11.25pm.

In the meantime Mr Saunders was left sitting upright in bed in the position he was in when he took his last breath.

Mrs Saunders said: “I don't want another family to go through what we’ve been through.”

In a letter to Mrs Saunders - Paula Clark, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust which runs Russells Hall, admitted the nurse on duty “did not have the experience to deal with this type of situation” but said she was known for her “very caring and professional attitude towards her patients”.

She added: “Unusually for a trained nurse (who normally works on a ward where very few deaths occur), Mr Saunders’ death was the first she had experienced in her 20 years of nursing. In view of this she did her utmost to deal with the course of events that occurred to the best of her ability.”

Ms Clark, however, stressed that when the nurse administered Mr Saunders’ intravenous antibiotics “he was still alive”.

She said the nurse checked Mr Saunders’ pulse at 10.50pm and found it was weak - nearly half an hour after the family claims he died.

She added that “the doctor on call was unfortunately unable to attend at the time as he was dealing with an emergency situation elsewhere in the hospital”.

But said the senior duty nursing officer was aware of Mr Saunders’ deteriorating condition” and she confirmed he had died at around 11.30pm.

Ms Clark apologised to the family for the distress experienced and said as a result of Mrs Saunders’ concerns the nurse would be sent on courses ‘care of the dying patient’ and ‘dealing with bereaved relatives’.

However Mrs Saunders, who moved to the UK from Capetown, SA, with Fred in the 1950s, is demanding a further investigation - branding the hospital’s response “a total misrepresentation” of what happened.

She said: “It’s really caused me a lot of distress and anguish.

“When he went in he wasn’t dying. On Monday and Tuesday his health seemed to be improving and we were told there was a possibility he would be discharged in three days time.

“And the letter says the nurse checked him at 10.50pm and called a doctor - but we knew he was dead at 10.25pm.”

She was also furious to read the letter stated Mr Saunders’ “resuscitation status was discussed” and in an emergency he would not be resuscitated.

Mrs Saunders said: “The doctors informed us my husband was gravely ill but nobody mentioned a word about resuscitation whatsoever to us. If they had we would have said ‘yes please’. It’s a total fabrication.

“I was a headteacher of an infant department. All my life I’ve taught children to be honest good citizens and I’ve brought my children up to be that way.

“They’re saying I’m making it all up. I can’t sleep at night. This is something we could do without.”

Mrs Saunders’ MP - Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire MP) who has been looking into the matter - said: “There does seem to be some stark contradictions between the concerns of the family and of the hospital.”

He said if the family request it he would be “very happy” to take their concerns to the Parliamentary Health Ombudsman for a detailed examination of the facts.

A hospital spokeswoman said the Trust had expressed “most sincere condolences to Mrs Saunders on the sad loss of her husband” and said the matter was being handled by the complaints department.