SWEEPING reforms at Worcester's Newtown Hospital are being made after scathing criticism from patients, their relatives, visitors and staff.

One woman, whose 80-year-old husband died while in Oak Ward, branded it a "Dickensian dumping ground for old people".

Health chiefs are spending £250,000 on improvements after the damning condemnation of the Aconbury wards at the Newtown complex.

The hospital has admitted that the environment and facilities at the wards need attention to bring them up to the standards of the rest of the Worcestershire Royal site. Already:

lTen nurses have been taken on for the Aconbury wards

lSenior nursing jobs at Aconbury have been filled and a 'modern matron' appointed

lOne sister and two junior sisters have been assigned to each ward

lClinical leadership has been improved

lExtra training is being provided and at least one member of nursing staff on each of the wards is being trained to nurse practitioner level so that they can carry out a wider range of procedures, including speeding up treatment for patients, and reducing the workload on the unit's doctors.

lExtra patient moving equipment has been purchased

lAnd a major programme of bed replacement is also due to begin shortly.

A spokesman for the hospital acknowledged that the Aconbury wards are not, in appearance at least, of the same standard of the rest of Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"Part of that is simply due to the fact that the Aconbury wards are older than the new hospital," he said.

"It is also partly a historical legacy of those buildings not featuring in the original plans for the new hospital, which has meant that less money has been spent on refurbishment than might otherwise have been the case."

He added that at a time when the NHS in Worcestershire is still under consdierable financial pressure - Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is £23.8 million in debt - it is important that scarce funds are spent in areas where they will have the longest-lasting benefit.

"However, our efforts to provide the highest possible standards of care for all our patients must be backed up by providing that care in the best possible surroundings that are achievable," he said.

"The need for work to improve the equipment and facilities at Aconbury has been reinforced by comments from staff, patients and visitors.

"Hopefully, some improvements are already visible with more to come in the near future."

My Des served at Dunkirk but it was the hospital that finished him

A WIDOW whose war hero husband died at Worcest-ershire Royal Hospital believes neglect at the hands of medical staff, because of his age, contributed to his death.

Pam Bradley claims the Oak Ward in the Aconbury Unit at Newtown Hospital is a "Dickensian dumping ground for old people".

Her catalogue of complaints about the care she believes her 80-year-old husband Des received in both the Royal and Newtown were so long that a special meeting was held between her family and health chiefs to try and address them all.

Mrs Bradley, from Wordsworth Avenue in Perdiswell, Worcester, claims Mr Bradley was "written off" by hospital staff after being diagnosed with secondary brain cancer in October 2004. "They were not prepared to carry out any more tests and appeared not to even want to refer him for cancer treatment," she said.

He was admitted to Cheltenham Hospital for radiotherapy only after Mrs Bradley insisted.

Then, on Monday, December 6, Mr Bradley was re-admitted to the Royal with a blood clot in his groin. Mrs Bradley claims, among other things, he was:

l Transferred to Newtown late at night in the cold.

l Left sitting distressed in a chair all day with no blanket or slippers opposite an open window - he then contracted pneumonia.

l Gasping for breath and shouting for help but ignored.

l Given another patient's drug sheet . Mr Bradley died on Monday, December 13.

"It is like something out of a Charles Dickens novel up there," Mrs Bradley said.

"Des was a war veteran and deserved more respect. He was a despatch rider in the Worcestershire Regim-ent serving at Dunkirk and throughout France and Germany. "It is obvious to my family that once a certain age is reached, care and treatment is stopped in the hope that the person will no longer be a burden on society."

A spokesperson for Worcestershire Royal Hospital said it was believed Mr Bradley's treatment was entirely appropriate given his prognosis.

"However, we have apologised to the family for some aspects of Mr Bradley's care falling short of the high quality for which we strive," he added.

"We have recognised that the environment and facilities in the Aconbury wards do need some attention to bring them up to the standards of the rest of the Worcestershire Royal site.

"We hope that the £250,000 worth of improvements will improve the experience of patients who are cared for in the Aconbury wards as well as boosting the morale of the staff who are based there."