Kate Garraway and Paul Brand spoke to Julie Chard about her late husband, who spent over 30 hours in a corridor after going to the hospital.
Julia Chard spoke about the care received after taking her husband to A&E(Image: ITV)
Kate Garraway was quick to console one guest on Good Morning Britain as they broke down in tears.
The ITV star, who is currently fronting the programme while Susanna Reid is on a break, spoke to Julia Chard about her late husband, Tom.
Tom Frith tragically died in July last year from the brain swelling condition, encephalitis. However, he spent a month in the hospital before his death after he was first admitted with flu-like symptoms and confusion.
Initially, Julia claims her husband spent over 30 hours in a corridor bed as A&E was overrun. His family was told he wasn’t able to have a vital MRI scan because it was the weekend. Tragically, after he eventually had an MRI scan, it confirmed Tom had a brain clot, and he died weeks later.
Speaking to ITV stars Kate and Paul on Good Morning Britain, Julia broke down in tears, speaking about her grief and anger at the care her husband didn’t receive. She commented, “I’m doing my best, I’m trying to find a new normal.
“I have to have a voice for Tom, because he’s not here. I’m learning to live with Tom here (her heart) rather than here (physically), and when you take that away, that’s a big hole to fill. He was the love of my life, and yeah, he was failed, I think.
“He might not have survived encephalitis, but if he’d been given a fighting chance, he could have. He was in critical care for seven weeks after that, but the damage was done, the damage was done in the first week. It was too late.”
As she became overcome with emotion speaking about Tom, Kate was seen grabbing for tissues to give to Julia as she wiped her tears away.
However, while speaking to the ITV stars, Julia shared that her anger isn’t with the NHS staff, as she told the duo that it takes a certain person to take on a caring role.
She said: “When they’re in an environment where they can’t deliver that, without the resource, the personnel, the finance, it must be absolutely demoralising for them.
“I saw the look on the nurses’ faces there. On Sunday afternoon, I left Tom for half an hour, and I asked a nurse to watch him for me because he couldn’t go to the toilet on his own.
“He was getting very agitated. I left and came back, and he was leaning against the side of the bed. He’d ripped his ID band off, and he’d relieved himself in his jeans, a grown man. I said to a nurse, ‘What is this?’
“She said, ‘I’m so sorry’, and she had tears in her eyes. I said, ‘This isn’t care’. He didn’t get a bed until the Monday morning.”
Now, Julia is taking legal action against the trust for medical negligence.
Kate read a statement from Dr Clare Hammell, the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who said, “My thoughts are with Tom’s family and loved ones.”
It said: “We are very sorry for the distress that they’ve experienced as a legal claim has now been issued, it wouldn’t be appropriate for the Trust to comment on the specific circumstances of Mr Frith’s care or the allegations that have been raised.”
Good Morning Britain is available to watch on ITV weekdays from 6am.