A grieving daughter wants a full inquest into her dad’s death after Basildon Hospital admitted failing to realise he had suffered a stroke.

Ronald Bush, 78, died in November, three weeks after he was admitted to accident and emergency with pain and swelling in his right arm.

The grandfather-of-three was also experiencing weakness and speech problems, but hospital staff did not run tests to see if he had suffered a stroke.

His symptoms were dismissed as residual problems from a previous stroke suffered a year beforehand.

After being discharged to Brentwood Community Hospital, Mr Bush suffered a fall as his symptoms worsened.

But he was only returned to Basildon Hospital when his daughter Tina Tuck, who had been away from home at the time of his admission, visited him the following day.

Mrs Tuck, 49, of Hedgerow Court, Noak Bridge, said: “His eyes kept going over to the side – it broke my heart.

“I was just wondering what the hell had happened.

“I couldn’t believe Basildon Hospital had discharged him in that state.”

When he went back to Basildon Hospital a second time a CT scan was carried out, which confirmed Mr Bush had suffered a stroke.

A serious incident investigation carried out by the hospital concluded the stroke had probably occurred before he was transferred to Brentwood.

The report identified a failure to identify the new stroke at an early stage and a lack of neurological examination at the community hospital as problems.

Pre-existing disability from his previous stroke, as well as poor communication between medical and therapy staff, were given as reasons for the mistakes.

Mr Bush, who was diabetic, was not given insulin for two weeks after his admission to hospital because staff were unaware it was included in his prescription.

But the investigation report said: “Lack of insulin administration was not a contributing factor for the stroke illness.”

Mrs Tuck, however, believes the insulin issue has not been properly examined, and a coroner ruling that Mr Bush died from natural causes was taken without full knowledge of the facts.

She has complained to the Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group –calling on it to reopen the serious investigation.

But chief nurse Lisa Allen said: “In this instance, BBCCG doesn’t consider there is any information not previously considered, therefore there is no necessity to reopen the investigation.”

Mr Bush was born in Thundersley and later moved to Dagenham, where he worked as a London bus driver.

At the time of his hospital admission, he was living in supported living accommodation in Noak Bridge.

Mrs Tuck added: “He loved his fishing and loved life.”

A Basildon Hospital spokesman said: “Our chief executive wrote to Mrs Tuck following the death of her father to offer her sincere condolences and with a promise to be open and honest about any shortcomings in the care he received.

“We have carried out a full and thorough investigation into the care provided to Mr Bush and the outcome has been shared with Mrs Tuck.

“The investigation found that although there was a delay in diagnosing the stroke the outcome would not have altered. Mr Bush received good nursing care and his blood sugar levels were closely monitored.

“We are committed to learning lessons from serious incidents and will be addressing the areas identified for improvement from this report, including communication between staff and documentation of discussions with family members.

“The quality and robustness of our investigation was reviewed by the CCG before it was sent to Mrs Tuck, as is the routine process for all investigations.

The Coroner has also been sent the report as part of the investigation process, which remains ongoing while they consider whether any further action is required.

“We understand Mrs Tuck still has questions and concerns and we were due to meet with her last Friday to try to address those and discuss the investigation report. Unfortunately, Mrs Tuck cancelled this meeting and we wait to hear from her so it can be rearranged.”

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

OCTOBER 18: Mr Bush is admitted to hospital with pain and swelling in his right arm

OCTOBER 23: The power in Mr Bush’s right arm, which was deemed 4/5 on arrival, is now recorded as 0/5

OCTOBER 29: A speech therapy assessment identifies weakness with lip and tongue movements, but this is not passed on to medical staff. Mr Bush is transferred to Brentwood Community Hospital.

NOVEMBER 1: Mr Bush suffers a fall. The serious incident report says this is “most likely due to progressive weakness from the stroke”.

NOVEMBER 2: Mrs Tuck visits her father and raises concerns about his condition. Mr Bush is transferred back to Basildon Hospital. A CT scan confirms he had suffered another stroke.

NOVEMBER 4: Mr Bush is given “nil by mouth” status because he is unable to swallow.

NOVEMBER 10: An “end of life” care plan is devised

NOVEMBER 13: Mr Bush dies in hospital