The reports last week of Kane Gorny’s final  hours beggared belief.

The 22-year-old had been admitted to one of  the UK’s top teaching hospitals for hip replacement surgery, but within three  days he’d died of thirst, after medical staff ignored both his pleas for water  and the symptoms of dehydration that experts say are ‘easy to  recognise’.

When Kane, in desperation, rang 999 on his  mobile, a policeman who responded to his call witnessed him shouting repeatedly  to the nursing staff: ‘Can I have some water?’

Kane had a form of diabetes that hampered his  body’s ability to retain fluid.

Yet the response of doctors and nurses on the  ward was to sedate him, without giving him intravenous fluids or monitoring him  as he lay unconscious.

The inquest into Kane’s death in May 2009 at  St George’s Hospital, Tooting, in South London, has caused an outcry.

First and foremost, there has been widespread  condemnation of the extraordinary inhumanity of staff who refused water to a  dying man left immobile and unable to get out of bed as a result of  surgery.

Equally alarming, however, is that these  healthcare professionals failed to recognise the symptoms of dehydration, or to  appreciate the significance of his desire for water.

Instead, according to the coroner, nurses ‘felt he had a fixation with water’.

The story has appalled health campaigners.

‘What on earth do they teach nurses and  doctors today if not the fundamental importance of keeping patients hydrated?’ says Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern.

‘It’s completely unbelievable that the  dangers of dehydration — known to every mother — are not being inculcated in the  nursing profession.

‘Every health professional should be making  it a top priority to keep patients properly hydrated.’

Worryingly, Kane’s tragic death is an extreme  example of a far more widespread problem: patients simply aren’t getting enough  water.

‘We’re all aware of the importance of  drinking plenty of water, as it’s essential to digestion, absorption of  nutrients and the elimination of toxins and wastes,’ says dietician Rick Wilson  of the British Dietetic Association.

‘Yet healthcare staff too often ignore the  huge importance of hydration for hospital patients.

‘Hospitals today are hot, dry buildings where  people can become dehydrated quickly anyway.

‘Add to that the fact that many patients are  recovering from surgery that is frequently preceded by several hours of “nil by  mouth”; they may have multiple disorders affecting hydration levels; or they may  be confused, unwell or physically unable to sit up and help themselves to a  drink.’

Without water, even a healthy person’s body  starts to feel the effects within hours, especially in hot  weather.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2177969/How-hundreds-patients-dying-thirst-hospital-The-story-22-year-old-died-hospital-dehydration-shocked-Britain-But-tragedy-horrifyingly-common.html#ixzz21XeBC8Yi

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