Traumatised family say hospital is 'terrifying' after loved one died of sepsis waiting for care
ITV News Meridian's Malcolm Shaw has been speaking to the family of a woman who died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital
The family of a woman who died while in intensive care in hospital say they have been left deeply traumatised one year on from her death.
Tamara Davis was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with sepsis and multi-organ failure.
Her family say she spent 10 hours on a bed in a corridor without monitoring equipment.
Tamara's sister, Miya Davis said: "I can’t describe the fear I have now of myself or friends or family having to go into hospital now. It's terrifying."
The trust later apologised for Tamara's death, but her sister Miya says she now fears for family members going to the hospital.
Meanwhile, the family of Ralph Sims have reached a settlement with the Royal Sussex over his death five years ago.
He suffered a 12-hour delay in treatment for a blood clot following heart surgery.
Sussex Police are still investigating scores of other deaths at the hospital since 2015.
A spokesperson for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust said: "We have extended our condolences, and apologies, to the Sims family for their loss and the tremendous upset they have suffered.
"The care given to Mr Sims in 2019 was not of the standard that he and his family should have been able to expect, and we are deeply sorry for that."
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised the hospital's rating from inadequate to requires improvement, but told bosses there are problems that need to be addressed urgently.
The CQC's Neil Cox said: "Frontline staff are doing a good job at providing care to patients.
"Staff have told us that the board and exec team were seen as remote and didn’t have a full understanding of the issues affecting surgical staff always.
"There’s still a culture of bullying despite being recognised and that’s seen in some surgical departments."
Chief executive of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust George Findlay said: "What I would say to staff is thank you for all the hard work, and what I would say to patients is, our staff are amazing.
"They provide the best care they can possibly. The outstanding nature of care, recognised by the CQC should give confidence but we know we’ve got improvements to make.
"Patients are waiting too long to access care, whether that’s through emergency care or planned care and that’s our focus to reduce the time that people wait to get access to our care."
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