THE family of a woman, 69, who spent 36 hours in a Valencia hospital ER waiting for a bed and died of acute pancreatitis has been awarded €225,000 in compensation.
The patient went in May 2025 to the Valencia General Hospital and was not seen by anybody following an initial assessment.
The payout has come from the Valencian Ministry of Health after a complaint was filed on behalf of the family by rights group- the Association El Defensor del Paciente.
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The organisation said she was examined on arrival and given several tests, including an abdominal ultrasound, after which she was diagnosed with acute biliary pancreatitis.
Doctors wanted to admit her, but a lack of beds meant she was left in the ER.
She arrived at the hospital at 00.12 hours but died at 7.32am the next day with no follow-up examinations.
The rights group claimed no further tests or monitoring were carried out after her initial examination.
The Association El Defensor del Paciente said it was an avoidable death and blamed serious neglect in the ER while the woman was waiting for a bed.
Acute pancreatitis requires close monitoring and intensive treatment because of the risk of rapid and life-threatening complications.
The complaint said that monitoring did not take place and a lack of attention meant the patient did not get vital and prompt treatment.
“It is in no way acceptable that the patient remained for a day and a half in an emergency room without any doctor, nurse or health worker of any kind even approaching this patient,” they stated.
In January 2025, the Satse nursing union warned about an ‘endemic deficit’ of beds at the Valencia General Hospital.
A statement at the time talked of ‘waits of up two hours to pass through triage with up to 59 people waiting to be seen’ in what it regarded as a ‘collapse’ of the ER.
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