A second ill pensioner has died after being sent home hundreds of miles in a taxi from a scandal-hit Scottish hotel.
The Loch Achray Hotel in Callander, Stirlingshire, hit headlines last month when it was revealed that 79-year-old Norma Francis was sent on a 350-mile taxi journey to her home in Gnosall, Stafford, after showing symptoms of gastric illness.
Norma fell unconscious during the journey and later died in hospital after paramedics were unable to waken her.
Now it’s emerged that just three weeks after Norma died on April 6, the hotel sent guest Carol Whymark, 70, home to Suffolk 450 miles in a taxi after it was suspected she was suffering from norovirus.
Proud grandmother Carol, who’d been at the hotel with her husband Desmond, 73, died of a heart attack in hospital the next day.
Her furious daughter, Sharone, says the family have instructed lawyers to investigate Carol’s stay at the hotel, booked through Lochs and Glens Holidays Limited.
Sharone, 47, said: “I just think it is terrible that this could have happened once, let alone twice. It’s disgusting.
“I’ve lost my mum, my dad lost his wife and my daughter her nanny. I’m disgusted and this needs investigating.
“I’m still numb really. I still feel angry.”
Carol, who was on a coach tour of Scotland, woke up feeling unwell at the hotel on April 28.
Her daughter said staff told Desmond that his wife had norovirus and offered him rubber gloves to clean the room and left food and water outside.
The family claim no appropriate medical advice was given, with the hotel simply offering a taxi home.
When they got back to Stanton, Suffolk, following the marathon 450-mile journey, worried Sharone called an ambulance.
Her mother died of a heart attack at West Suffolk Hospital the next day.
A post mortem revealed she did not have norovirus in her system and died of the heart attack.
Sharone said: “Mum said she didn’t feel 100 per cent – but there was no evidence of vomiting or loose stools. There was no medical attention at all.
“They said to my dad there was a 90 per cent chance he will catch the virus.
“Half an hour later they said she was fit to travel nine hours home. It’s so wrong.
“When they came and said they would pay for a taxi, she said, ‘Yes, let’s go home’.
“The poor lady who passed away three weeks before, she actually did have norovirus.
“But my mum didn’t have it.
“The hotel thought she had norovirus because the other lady did.
“But how can you say you have suspected norovirus and then half an hour later have them going home knowing what happened three weeks earlier and how deadly the virus can be?
“Actually, there was something else wrong with her and maybe if they hadn’t jumped to the norovirus conclusion, she might have got more help.
“But even if they did suspect norovirus, I know for a fact you need to send a stool sample to have it confirmed.
“My dad is absolutely gutted. He doesn’t show his feelings much but they were married 54 years. It’s hard going.”
Sharone has instructed the same firm of lawyers who are acting for Norma’s family.
Amandeep Dhillon, a public health specialist at the law firm, Irwin Mitchell, said: “To hear that another guest has been sent home in this fashion, just three weeks after Norma’s death is both alarming and deeply concerning.
“We would urge public health bodies in Scotland to investigate practices at the hotel, if they have not already done so, in a swift but thorough manner to ensure the correct procedures are in place.”
Meanwhile, Irwin Mitchell are now looking into whether the Loch Achray Hotel ignored guidelines from NHS Health Scotland advising norovirus sufferers to stay indoors and away from others until 48 hours after their symptoms disappear.
Lochs and Glens Holidays, which owns the hotel, say they have launched an investigation into Carol’s case.
Managing director Neil Wells said: “We were extremely saddened when we heard that Mrs Whymark had passed away and extend our deepest sympathy to the family.
“We are in the process of carrying out an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her visit to the hotel.”
