An elderly woman was left fighting for her life after falling from bed during her first night in hospital.
Joy Saunders suffered a major brain haemorrhage after the incident but solicitors say that despite her incoherent speech and nasty facial bruising, proper tests were not carried out for two days.
The 76-year-old, from Ipswich, has required 24-hour care since the fall in November last year and was recently admitted to a hospice.
Her family have been warned she is in her final days of life.
Her husband David Saunders is now preparing to take legal action on her behalf against private healthcare provider Serco, which solicitors say failed to protect Mrs Saunders.
Medical negligence specialist Ben Ward, of Ashton KCJ, said: “We hear so many terrible stories of elderly care provision.
“This really isn’t the way that patients’ families should be treated following an incident like this.”
The fall happened in the physiotherapy care unit at Bluebird Lodge, Ipswich, a community hospital run by Serco on behalf of the NHS as part of a £140 million Suffolk Community Healthcare contract.
She had been admitted on November 27 last year, following a stroke whilst on holiday in Spain.
Mr Saunders says he specifically asked nursing staff to erect bed rails to prevent her falling out in her distressed state.
But early the next morning he received a call telling him his wife had been found lying on the floor.
It is not clear how long she had been on the floor or what steps had been taken to prevent a fall.
When he visited her he said he was shocked by the bruising to her face and found her uncommunicative and dazed.
Despite raising concerns, he says it was not until two days later that scans were carried out which identified the brain haemorrhage, solicitors said.
Mr Saunders was told that, if her condition deteriorated, his wife would not be resuscitated. Ever since, she has required around-the-clock care and her family said she has “little or no quality of life”.
Serco said it would not comment on an individual case.
Sharon Colclough, director of community services, said: “We will investigate this allegation.”
She added: “We do not comment on individual patients, but we have not been approached by any legal representatives. Patient safety is our paramount concern and we take matters such as this very seriously. If the family contact us directly we will respond accordingly.”
Last month, the Ipswich and East and West Suffolk clinical commissioning groups, which issued the contract, raised concerns over Serco missing key targets including fall assessments.
“If private companies are to be trusted with our NHS, these basic steps cannot be ignored. Standards must improve,” Mr Ward added.
“It looks rather like staff under pressure, an issue which if true Serco must address.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here