A grieving son was given just an hour to say goodbye to his father because the medics had already called the undertaker after he died during an operation at a private hospital.
Orson Morris’ father, Phil, died in December 2021 due to the mistakes made during a £12,000 gastric sleeve surgery at St Anthony’s Hospital, Sutton.
Phil’s wife Dana was called by staff members at 2am to be given the news and told she had a one hour to see the 48-year-old before his body was taken away.
Dana woke Orson, then aged 12, before they rushed to the hospital owned by private health provider Spire.
Orson, now 14, told the Mirror he will ‘never forgive’ the hospital for the way they treated his father and ‘ruined his final goodbye with him’.
The youngster claims to have only had five minutes alone with his dad, as ‘heartless’ staff kept walking in whilst he attempted to sing a song he ‘knew his dad would have loved’.
He said: ‘I’ll never get that back and that hurts so much. Not only did we only get minutes with him instead of hours, but they demanded we go at 2am and see the body or we’d be too late.
‘When we got there, staff kept coming in saying, ‘They’re coming’, referring to the funeral directors they had called without consulting us.’
The family was caused further distress when the saw a a stretcher was next to the door with staff from the funeral director whilst they were ushered out of the room.
Last week, a coroner at the inquest into actor and lecturer Phil’s death found he would have survived had vital steps been taken by hospital staff.
The inquest heard Phil was not properly monitored after the surgery, as staff failed to take blood tests as requested by his surgeon.
He was then allowed to leave intensive care without the oxygen he needed and died on December 10 from hypoxia – a lack of oxygen.
Phil’s family are now considering legal action against Spire, after being billed for his treatment just days after he died.
A spokesman for Spire said: ‘We apologise for the distress and pain Mr Morris’ death has caused. Prior to the inquest, we carried out a thorough review of Mr Morris’ treatment and have taken action to address the learnings we identified.
‘We accept the coroner’s findings and will reflect on what further we can learn from this sad case.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
