Dying war veteran who was shuttled between hospitals

They have also apologised for failing to ensure that 86-year old war veteran Herbert Allison had adequate pain control.

The case has led to a rule change which means that the patient and family must consent to any transfer.

Denise Catterick was horrified when she went to visit her father at Darlington Memorial Hospital to be told Mr Allison had been taken by ambulance to Bishop Auckland General Hospital without his family being consulted.

When he was transferred back to Darlington three days later, he told her he had been in pain the entire time he was at Bishop Auckland.

"One of the staff had said he would have to bear it. He had not slept and he should not have been transferred without a stronger analgesic," said Mrs Catterick, of High Grange, Darlington.

Furious that he had endured another five hours without pain relief since his return to Darlington she staged a protest.

"I shouted that this man fought in the Second World War - why should he be left like this? I demanded that they find someone who could give him a shot of morphine," said Mrs Catterick.

A few minutes later, a doctor arrived and gave Mr Allison a pain-killing injection, she said.

His condition deteriorated during his week in hospital and two weeks after he was discharged he died.

Jill Foggin, complaints manager at the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said a staff nurse rang the family to try to get consent for the transfer but was unable to get an answer.

"I offer our sincere apologies that your father was distressed from the ambulance journeys he had endured over the two days. He should not have been transferred," she said.

She said records showed that Mr Allison had been given painkillers before being transferred back to Darlington but apologised for the length of time it took for a doctor to give the patient a further injection.

This was because of an emergency elsewhere in the hospital.