The family of a young man who died soon after being sent home from Christchurch Hospital last month has received an apology from hospital management.
On April 14, only 12 hours after visiting the hospital, Dean Carroll, 25, died from an infection that had spread to his spine.
He was in severe pain when admitted and an off-duty nurse who works at another hospital says medical staff treated him appallingly.
She saw Mr Carroll in the emergency department and said he was walking "like Frankenstein", with stiff legs, making groaning noises.
"Any fool could see this wasn't just a sore back and he needed to be rushed straight through."
The nurse said Mr Carroll was initially told he would have to sit or stand, as there was no bed available for him while he was waiting to be seen.
The Canterbury District Health Board ordered an external investigation into the death and yesterday apologised for his treatment - or lack of it.
Chief medical officer Nigel Millar told 3 News the incident had shaken the staff.
"This is a dreadful thing for Mr Carroll's family, but the staff feel it quite severely because their life and their work is with the emergency department, providing the best possible care they can."
Mr Carroll's partner, Victoria Milne, said after the two-hour meeting that the apology was genuine and went some way toward healing things.
"It does help, I feel a bit better about it today after meeting with everyone and talking through things."
Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson last month slammed Wellington Hospital in a report into the death of a patient by pneumonia in 2004.
The report showed the 50-year-old man had been badly treated by staff both in medical and personal terms.
It said the man had classic signs of chest infection and his life could have been saved if simple hospital procedures had been followed.
