THE family of a woman who died weighing just four stones has claimed the NHS repeatedly let her down.

Mum-of-three Susan Brook first went to the Elmwood Health Centre in Holmfirth in June after suffering pains, a loss of appetite and rapid weight loss.

The 54-year-old from Holmfirth was given an appointment for a bowel scan at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary in September.

Her partner, John Moore, claims Susan returned to her GPs a further 10 times as her condition deteriorated.

And he claims each time they were told to wait until the scan in September.

Susan was eventually rushed to hospital on August 2 but died from bowel failure a little over 48 hours later.

Mr Moore, 59, says the practice had not seemed concerned even though Susan’s weight dropped from eight stones to four stones in two months.

Susan was finally admitted to HRI after Mr Moore rang the practice on August 1 demanding an emergency referral.

He said: “The head of practice took one look at her and immediately sent her to HRI.”

Once at HRI, the family claim further errors contributed to Susan’s death.

The family say Susan still did not get an emergency scan despite complaining to staff about pain and feeling sick.

HRI chiefs have already written apologising to the family for a number of shortcomings, including doctors not responding to emergency bleeps.

But an investigation by the hospital concluded there were no symptoms at the time to indicate the scan was urgent and health workers were planning to wait until after the weekend.

But, on the afternoon of her third day at the hospital Susan’s blood and oxygen levels plunged – and a crash team had to be called.

She was resuscitated and an emergency scan was carried out which revealed Susan’s small bowel and colon had died and could not be saved.

She never fully recovered and died shortly after midnight on August 5.

A report by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust described the situation as a “catastrophic abdominal event”.

Mr Moore and his partner’s three children, Serena, Eleanor and Theo feel Susan’s care had not been adequate.

The family are also concerned that she was injected with anti-blood clot drugs, that nurses “ignored” her blue legs and that it took several hours for more senior doctors to see to her.

Mr Moore said: “Susan had been saying she had weird tingling in her legs but I was told it was something and nothing.

“I got a phone call from her in hospital saying she was scared and she didn’t feel right.

“She wasn’t like that, she was a strong woman.

“When I got there the next day her legs were blue and black and looked thrombotic.

“When I pointed this out they started panicking.”

It was at this point that Susan “crashed”.

“They resuscitated her and we were told we’d have to wait 30 minutes for the scanner to warm up.

“It was then over four hours until a surgeon came. By that time her bowel had died.”

Mr Moore said he had to insist on a post-mortem and is still waiting to see if an inquest into her death will be held.

He added: “She wasn’t assessed properly and she didn’t get her scan.”

Dr Steve Ollerton, Chairman of the NHS Greater Huddersfield, said: “We are sorry to learn of Mr Moore’s loss and his dissatisfaction with the NHS.

“We know that Elmwood surgery has engaged extensively with Mr Moore about the clinical care given by all the GPs involved and given him detailed feedback on the concerns he has raised. If he feels this process has not adequately addressed his concerns we would encourage him to make a formal complaint to the PCT so the case can be investigated fully.

“We will not comment on the specific details of the care provided. However, we can provide assurance that the NHS operates a system whereby patients are referred for further investigation according to their clinical need.

“The complaints process is there to help bereaved families.

“Those involved will take a detailed look at all aspects of the patient’s treatment and care and work with relatives to help them understand why things did or didn’t happen and be assured that the NHS learns from any shortcomings.”

HRI’s Director of Nursing, Helen Thomson, said: “We can confirm we have had a complaint and we are disappointed that we have not resolved Mr Moore’s concerns.

“If he remains unhappy with our response we would invite him to contact us and we would be happy to discuss it further.”