A DISABLED man was left to starve for four days after being sent home from hospital without his family's knowledge.

Paul Cummins, 65, used his Southend Careline alarm to get help when he fell out of his wheelchair on Saturday, May 14.

He was taken to Southend hospital but discharged later the same day.

Carers from Wickford-based Brooks Care and Nursing Service, who normally visit him four times a day, weren't informed and believed he was still in hospital.

When distraught sister Dawn Lord, 60, from Southend, went to visit him at his home in Jones Close, Southend, four days later she found Mr Cummins covered in urine, faeces and blood.

The family had not even been told of his fall and hospital admission - let alone his discharge.

Mr Cummins, who is barely able to move due to severe arthritis and the effects of a stroke, was so severely dehydrated that he resorted to drinking his own urine in desperation.

His eldest sister Sharon Shaw, 64, of Southchurch Road, Southend, said he had even broken a glass picture frame by his bed and used the shards to try to kill himself.

Mr Cummins had been left in his bed by ambulance crews who failed to give him his Careline alarm, leaving him helpless.

Mrs Shaw said: "My brother is mentally ill and crippled yet they took him home, dumped him in bed and he was left for four days. They didn't even give him his Careline button. It was in the living room.

"My sister and I visit Paul once a week and she was due to go on Tuesday but couldn't. She went on Wednesday instead and found him in a terrible state. He was lying in urine and faeces and he'd slashed his arms legs. He had been trying to kill himself with the glass from the picture by his bed."

She added: "He was dehydrated and had a urine infection. My sister was in such a state of shock. She immediately called an ambulance and he was taken back into hospital.

"Everyone is blaming everyone else but this is not the first time this has happened. The hospital apologised for a similar thing in February though it wasn't as serious as this. They discharged him from hospital at 1.30am and the first we knew of it was ambulance crews calling us saying they had the wrong address for him.

"It really is disgraceful. I can't describe how terrible we feel."

Mr Cummins survived his ordeal and is now recovering well.

Mrs Shaw said: "He is quite chirpy considering. He told us how he was so desperate he drank his own urine and had used the glass to slash at his arms and legs. He is being well looked after now but we are still trying to find out what went wrong. The carers are the best we have had so far but they should have told us.

"If telling our story saves one other person from going through this then it will be worth it."

Apologies from care providers

THE organisations involved in a catalogue of blunders which saw Paul Cummins suffer alone for four days have apologised to him and his family.

Southend Hospital is working alongside Southend Careline, the East of England Ambulance Service and Brooks Care and Nursing Service to investigate how the blunder happened.

Cheryl Schwarz, deputy chief nurse, said: “We recognise the anxiety this has caused both Mr Cummins and Mrs Shaw. 

"We are liaising with Mrs Shaw to enable us to investigate her concerns fully and to look, alongside our partner agencies, into what led to such a distressing situation for Mr Cummins.”

Southend Careline, run by South Essex Homes, said family members are normally contacted whenever an alarm device is activated,

A spokeswoman said Mr Cummins' family were not told about his fall and subsequent hospital admission "due to an omission."

She said: "We are sad to hear of this recent incident and would like to wish the resident a speedy recovery. Under normal circumstances when a remote alarm device is activated and it is deemed that medical assistance is required the next of kin are contacted, however, despite the fact that we did contact the ambulance, on this occasion due to an omission, the next of kin were not notified."

An ambulance service spokesman said: "We attended the address on May 14 and a patient transport service ambulance took the patient back home on May 15. 

"We’d like to apologise to the patient and his family for the distress clearly felt this week; on hearing about this situation, we have made contact with them to learn more about what happened and to investigate it further.”

Brooks Care has not responded to an invitation to comment.