The wife of a former Coldstream Guard has slammed the care given to her husband at St Helier hospital in the days before his death.

Malcolm Reed, 83, was admitted to St Helier on November 11, with a suspected chest infection, but he passed away 20 days later with doctors citing heart disease and pneumonia as the reason for his death.

His wife Kathleen, 78, said the hospital failed in its duty of care to her husband with a lack of staff resulting in him being neglected which was a contributory factor.

Mrs Reed said that during his time in hospital, her husband was left in his own excrement, left on a bed soaked by an ill-fitted drip and was not given water causing him to suffer severe dehydration.

She said: “I asked a young doctor whether he could have someone to help him drink, but their response was ‘we haven’t got time to keep giving him drinks.’ His tongue was completely black- like a lump of coal because of the dehydration.”

When he had been in hospital for a week Mr Reed, who was in the army for just under six years, told his wife: “I’m going to die in here,” when she asked what he was going to die from he said “neglect.”

In February, Mrs Reed and her daughter met with hospital staff to raise concerns about the care given to Mr Reed.

She said: “They did admit that there was a failure in the duty of care, but why is it that someone has to die before they realise.”

Pippa Hart, Director of Nursing at the hospital said: “We are committed to treating every patient with respect and dignity at all times. We are genuinely sorry that Mrs Reed is unhappy with the care we gave her husband.

“We met with Mrs Reed and her daughter to address their concerns and we have launched a formal investigation in to the concerns they raised. I will continue to monitor the ward closely to make sure that all of our patients receive the best possible care.”