HOSPITAL bosses have apologised to a 76-year-old man from Bradford over a failure to provide pain relief while he was being assessed on a ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Retired Noel Higgins, who lives with his partner Tracey Richardson, 51, at Woodlands Court, off White Abbey Road, sought medical help at the hospital's Accident & Emergency department back in May after suffering what he thought to be a mini-stroke.

He was admitted to ward 9 for further assessment and to see the stroke consultant, but ended up leaving the hospital at 7.30pm against medical advice after having received no pain relief for an unrelated problem.

Mr Higgins told the Telegraph & Argus that he had fallen at home in the bathroom ten days earlier and had visited A&E and had x-rays taken but doctors said he had not fractured a rib.

Following the suspected mini-stroke, after which he had difficulty using his left hand, Mr Higgins asked doctors to check his ribs again as he was still concerned.

It was at this point that he was told that a subsequent review of the x-rays by the radiology team had highlighted a possible fracture of one rib.

He complained to the hospital that he had to wait from shortly before 1pm when he arrived at A&E with the suspected mini-stroke, until 7.30pm when he walked out of the ward, without any pain medication, despite requesting relief a number of times.

He said: "I had been out with my dog for a walk and had come home, and was sat down having a cup of coffee when my left hand just fell - and I knew it was a mini-stroke, having had one before.

"I went to my GP and from there to A&E, and while they were examining my hand I asked for a second opinion over my ribs, and was told I had a fracture. I did say I was in pain at this point.

"Because of my hand they admitted me to the ward and I asked the doctors to give me some painkillers, but I got up and walked out at 7.30pm - seven hours from arriving at A&E and still no painkillers."

After complaining to hospital bosses Mr Higgins received an apology from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, but which also clarified that according to their records when he first arrived at A&E on May 21, the nursing team noted that he was "pain free" but that his ribs were "tender".

The records showed that he was admitted to the ward at 3.30pm and at that point complained of "severe pain". Following an assessment by a doctor at 4.40pm on the ward, he was prescribed Ibuprofen, three times a day, for the pain from his fractured ribs.

But by the time he left at 7.30pm, he had still not received any medication - nearly three hours from when it was first prescribed.

The letter stated: "I am very sorry that, despite the pain you were in, my team failed to provide you with the analgesia that you required.

"Can I please assure you that your experience has been addressed with the Ward 9 team, to prevent this from happening again in the future."

The letter also apologised over the earlier rib fracture, stating: "I do apologise that this possible rib fracture was not picked up by either the AED or the ward based medicine team on your assessment and admission within the hospital."

A Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “We are very sorry for any distress caused to Mr Higgins during his time under our care and would like to assure him that we take every complaint seriously and lessons have been learned from his case.

"We would like to reiterate the offer made to Mr Higgins in our official response, that he should not hesitate to contact us directly if he requires further clarification about any aspect of his care.”