Bedale grandad claims oxygen was 'turned down' at Friarage Hospital

Adam Brown's family arrived at his hospital bed to find the 81-year-old gasping for air after they claim his oxygen supply was decreased, and immediately raised the alarm.

Nurses at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, rushed to help and stabilised him and he is now recovering at home.

Adam Brown, 81, from Aiskew near Bedale, North Yorkshire. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) Hospital bosses have launched an inquiry and have apologised to Mr Brown and his family "for the incident that occurred".

But Mr Brown's furious family are demanding further answers and have called in North Yorkshire Police, who confirmed they are looking into his care.

Mr Brown's granddaughter, Ashton Bird, 36, said: “We want to know what happened."

Ashton (centre) on her wedding day with grandad Adam Brown (left) and his much-loved and much-missed wife Maureen who died two years ago. (Image: FAMILY) The alleged incident took place on December 22, last year, when Mr Brown, from Aiskew, near Bedale, North Yorkshire, was recovering from a heart attack and pneumonia, and was in a side room on one of the wards.

He was admitted on December 8 having had his eighth heart attack, from which he says doctors gave him little chance of surviving. But he was making a slow recovery with the help of an oxygen line from his bedside.

Just before visiting on the evening of December 22, Mr Brown recalled he had "nodded off" and woke gasping for air.

He said: "Suddenly I woke up and I couldn’t breathe - I was really gasping for breath. I thought I was going to die.

Adam Brown recalls nodding off then waking up struggling to breathe. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) “My granddaughter with her husband and my great-grandson walked through the doors that minute at visiting time.

“Ashton called for help and two of the nurses came and turned my oxygen back up."

Ashton, who lives in Pontefract, and drove for more than an hour to visit her grandad in hospital arriving at about 7.15pm, added: “I went to visit him and I could see through the window he didn’t look right. I went in and he was gasping, really struggling."

She claims she asked what level her grandad's oxygen supply was on and was told it was turned down while he was sleeping.

The mum says she asked for it to be turned back up but claims she was told by the staff member she couldn't without a nurse giving her permission.

Adam Brown is still using some oxygen to aid his recovery. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) Ashton added: “We want answers. I don’t want what happened to him to happen to someone else’s grandad. What if they weren’t visiting that time as I was? It doesn’t bare thinking about.”

Hospital bosses have apologised to his family for “the incident that occurred” and said they have put in “immediate safety actions”.

It happened at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton in December 2024. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) The Friarage is run by the South Tees Hospitals Trust. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) In an email, seen by the Echo, from the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Friarage, Ashton was told “the individual staff member is currently being managed within a HR process” after she complained.

It continues: “I am sincerely sorry for the incident that occurred. I can confirm immediate actions were put in place to ensure your grandfather’s safety and care were maintained.”

A trust spokesperson told the Echo: “We can confirm that the issues raised by Mr Brown’s family continue to be investigated, with immediate safety actions put in place at the time of the concerns first being raised.

Adam Brown (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) “The trust is in communication with the family and a face-to-face meeting has been offered.”

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Mr Brown is thankfully recovering at home after spending six weeks in hospital.

He still needs some oxygen but is able to “potter” around the house, but his family took the steps of calling in police who are now investigating the incident.

A North Yorkshire police spokesperson said: “We have received a report relating to the medical care of a man in his 80s, which we are looking into, and enquiries are currently being made to establish the full circumstances.”