A SENIOR solicitor has made an outspoken attack on falling standards of care in the region's hospitals.

Dr Nick Wilkes, an experienced medical negligence lawyer with North-East firm Browell, Smith and Co, said poor care in NHS hospitals was becoming widespread.

The solicitor, who qualified as a doctor before deciding to become a lawyer, said: "There is a perception among clients that the quality of basic nursing care has deteriorated in a number of hospitals in our region."

Dr Wilkes, who works from Durham and Newcastle, was speaking after advising the family of the late Elizabeth Wyles, 79, who died at South Tyneside General Hospital on April 11, seven weeks after being admitted after a fall at her South Shields home.

Mrs Wyles daughter, Elizabeth Cross, is highly critical of the care her mother received during her stay at the South Shields hospital.

Mrs Cross, 52, who now lives in Leicestershire, is pursuing a formal complaint with the Tyneside trust.

The complaint includes allegations of poor nursing care, inadequate supervision, poor hygiene and a lack of communication.

She claims that she warned nurses to ensure rails were put up around her mother's bed and was shocked when she found her mother had severe facial bruising after falling out of bed.

She said: "On a daily basis, I had to ask how my mother was because I wasn't getting any feedback from staff. It was only on the day she died that they told me she might only last a couple of hours."

Mrs Cross also claims that she was misled about her mother's ability to feed herself. "They led me to believe she was picking up and feeding herself but she couldn't. That went on for weeks before I found out.

"As for hygiene, I took antibacterial wipes in every day as well as a clean cup." she said.

A spokesman for the South Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust said: "As Mrs Cross has now requested an independent review of the case, we are unable to comment further."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the NHS Modernisation Board's report showed the service was improving compared to four years ago.