A patient was kept awake for three days after being given the wrong medication.
Gordon Whalley, from Lymm, was admitted to hospital after encountering breathing difficulties. He believes he was given medication intended for the patient who had occupied the bed before him.
The tablets, which included drugs to combat insomnia, left the 62-year-old unable to sleep for three days.
Wife Janice Whalley told Warrington Guardian newspaper: “Gordon couldn’t breathe and we thought he was having a heart attack. We took him to A&E – who were terrific when they were very busy, and they said his lung had partially collapsed. After about seven hours he was taken to the ward at about 9pm.
The next day he rang me and said he’d been absolutely hyper all night and that he couldn’t sleep.
They told him that they’d given him medication that shouldn’t have been administered to him and should have been given to another patient.
In all, they’d given him six doses of these various drugs for things like bipolar, epilepsy and high blood pressure.”
Warrington Hospital has launched an internal investigation into the matter and apologised to Mr Whalley.
Professor Simon Constable, deputy chief executive and executive medical director at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Patient safety is paramount and we are currently undertaking an internal investigation into this matter, therefore it would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment until complete.
“We have offered our apologies to the patient and their family, and if they wish to discuss further we are more than happy to facilitate.”
