The tragic end of war hero Ronald Jocelyn, 87

Published: 20th January, 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

A SECOND World War veteran died at the Royal Free Hospital after being left to use the toilet on his own, an inquest heard.

Ronald Jocelyn, 87, died from a brain haemorrhage in October last year after falling out of bed. He hit his head on the floor after being left alone by staff with the bed’s cot sides down.

The pensioner had been admitted to the hospital in Pond Street, Hampstead, five days earlier suffering from back pain, exacerbated by a series of falls in his Malden Road home in Gospel Oak.

His son Mark told Poplar Coroner’s Court on Tuesday that he found his father in a “disorientated state” with a cut over his left eye when he visited the hospital following the fall.

The inquest heard staff decided to give him one-to-one care and move in a lower bed following the incident, but the patient fell once again the following evening after suffering a period of confusion.

Scans revealed he had suffered a brain haemorrhage so severe that surgeons could not operate and he died a week later.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Jocelyn’s son questioned how he had been allowed to fall once again if he had been given one-to-one care.

“Certainly when I was with him the evening after his fall I didn’t see anyone with him at all, and I had to go and find a member of staff to attend to a gentleman opposite who was distressed,” he added.

Ward sister Caroline Cahill said: “We would start the shift with a healthcare assistant by his side at all times but on occasions when a relative comes in they will be left alone with the patient.” She added that the second fall occurred when Mr Jocelyn had become agitated.

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Andrew Reid said Mr Jocelyn died from “a combination of natural causes and accidental complications of hisº treatment and falls”.

Speaking outside court, Mark Jocelyn, a sales manager, said that before his father died, he had been so concerned about the care he was receiving at the Royal Free that he had made a formal complaint to the Patient Liaison Service.

“I don’t think it is a coincidence that he fell at the weekend when there are staff shortages and I feel his level of care went from exceptional to very poor at that time,” he said.

“At the end of the day my dad was taken into hospital with basic pain and he ended up dying because of falls that happened when he was heavily medicated and under the hospital’s care.”

He added: “It was a sad end for someone who wasn’t your typical 87-year-old man. 

“He was a character: he fought in the war, almost made it as a professional footballer, worked as a model before becoming a salesman and even survived cancer.”

A spokesman for the Royal Free said: “The Trust would like to extend its condolences to Mr Jocelyn’s family.”