Patient Died of Starvation in NHS Hospital

Martin Ryan, 43, was left unable to swallow after suffering a stroke but a "total breakdown in communication" meant he was never fitted with a feeding tube. Doctors thought that nurses were feeding him through a tube in his nose, an internal inquiry by the hospital found. But by the time they discovered this was not happening, he was too weak for an operation to insert a tube into his stomach. Mr. Ryan, who had Down's syndrome, died in agony five days later. Downs Patient Dies of Starvation in NHS Hospital Also: Horrific Pattern of Neglect of Patients with Disabilities