Tragic cases of patients being sent home alone and unable to cope

Elderly and vulnerable patients are still being sent home alone and unable to cope despite promises to improve England's hospital discharge system.

A new report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has revealed serious gaps in care, often with devastating consequences for the patients involved.

Pam Waller, an 83-year-old great-grandmother with dementia and partial paralysis, was repeatedly sent home by Whipps Cross hospital in East London without her relatives being informed.

Her daughter Angela Little said: "She couldn't walk, she was carried in, she couldn't take herself to the toilet or eat and that's how she was left.

"On one occasion I found she had fallen with her head wedged against the back door. She had been like that all night".

Angela wept as she told me how her mother kept having to be readmitted, once after only a couple of hours.

She said: "The social worker never stopped reminding me how much it would cost to put her into care. We're all going to get old.

"It's appalling that at a time when they need most help, they're treated so poorly".

Last year there were over 6,000 complaints across the NHS about admission, discharge and transfer arrangements - an increase of 6.3%.

Only the most serious, which can't be resolved locally, are examined by the Ombudsman, Julie Mellor.

Her office investigated 221 complaints - up more than a third, with more being upheld than the year before.

She said: "Poor planning, coordination and communication between hospital staff and between health and social care services are failing patients, compromising their safety and dignity.

"Health and social care leaders must work harder to uncover why ten years of guidance to prevent unsafe discharge is not being followed".

Labour MP Ann Clwyd, who advised the government on how hospitals should handle patient complaints, told ITV News not enough had changed since her report more than two years ago:

It's no secret that our social care system is under enormous pressure, with demand far outstripping supply and growing delays in discharging patients.

Only this week the Health Secretary admitted its "very tough in social care" with services having to make "some very challenging efficiencies".

But the harrowing cases in the Ombudsman's report show just how devastating the consequences are when a lack of resources or planning means corners get cut.