HOSPITAL bosses have launched an investigation into claims that a dying heart patient was forced to call his family for help on a mobile phone when he collapsed on a hospital ward.
Managers at Fitzrovia’s Heart Hospital are investigating claims that staff failed to come to the aid of 50-year-old Hamid Behjoo when he fell after getting up to go to the toilet on Saturday night.
Mr Behjoo, of Stanhope Street, Regent’s Park, died at the hospital, part of University College London Hospitals Trust, hours later, although not because he had been left on the floor.
Speaking yesterday, close friend George Hilsdon said Mr Behjoo used his mobile phone to call his sister from the floor of the ward at around 3.30am.
He said: “He told her he knew he was dying on the floor and that no-one had come to help him.
“He was in a room with three other patients but no-one came when he called – it’s disgusting.
“He had to call an ambulance for himself.”
A spokesman for UCLH, which bought the Heart Hospital in Westmoreland Street, Fitzrovia, from the private sector in 2001, said: “We are very concerned about the claims made and are currently investigating what happened. The Trust does not appear to have received a complaint from the family.
“However, if the family have real concerns about the care of Mr Behjoo we would welcome them contacting us, and, if they wish, making a formal complaint to the Trust.”