Woman wrote letters that she was going to die in Nevill Hall

Susan Dagger Price, from Ebbw Vale, died on March 27 aged 73 at The Grange Hospital.

Mrs Dagger Price was admitted to Nevill Hall on March 2, 2023, for two weeks on the respiratory ward after overcoming sepsis at The Grange in February 2023.

The Ebbw Vale woman suffered from CREST for five years - a multisystem connective tissue disorder which affects several body systems.

Mrs Dagger Price's last Christmas, pictured with her daughter Tracy Congreve (Image: Tracy Congreve)

At Nevill Hall, Susan’s daughter Tracy Congreve said her mum wrote letters saying she was scared she was going to catch an infection, that she was lying on dirty sheets for days and horrifyingly wrote that she thought she was going to die.

In response Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “The Health Board has met with Mrs Price’s daughter and conducted an investigation into the care her mother received.”

Ms Congreve believes the hospital should be called a ‘nursing home’ and not a hospital.

Ms Congreve said: “Part of mum’s illness was her legs which would bleed and weep, she would need to change her legs three times daily at home. Her knees down to her ankles would bleed and she looked like a burn’s victim.

“She would cry they were so painful.

Mrs Dagger Price would cry because her legs were so painful in Nevill Hall Hospital (Image: Tracy Congreve)

“Mum wrote letters that she was scared that she was going to catch an infection in Nevill Hall, that she was lying on dirty sheets for days and wrote that she thought she was going to die.

“I complained to staff about this, and she required blood taken daily due to the sepsis she had previously.

“The hospital told me they had forgotten to print out mums’ labels and some members of staff made mum cry on occasions like a baby.”

Mrs Dagger Price’s medication was reportedly left out for two days on top of her cupboard.

Ms Congreve said: “Her medication was left out for two days on top of her cupboard, mum had tablets specially delivered to her home which were rare and priceless to her survival.

“On two separate occasions I had to ask the nurses to lock the pills away, her life depended on them.

“Mum wasn’t the type of woman to complain or even press the buzzer in hospital, she said ‘they are all busy and I don’t like to ask for help’ which showed what kind of lady she was.

“She rang the buzzer twice in Nevill Hall, a nurse replied with ‘what do you want now.’  Mum said she was pressing the buzzer on behalf of two other ladies who couldn’t reach the buzzer. Families brought mum boxes of chocolates saying thank you.

The 73-year-olds legs would bleed and weep (Image: Tracy Congreve)

“There was a board above mum’s head to be written on. Mum was limited to 1.5 litres of fluid a day due to her heart and lung problems. This was written on day two but wiped off by day three.  I told them it was important it was written and monitored.

“Mum filled up with fluid and put on a stone and half of water, she wrote a letter saying ‘I feel I am drowning, my heart will stop and no doctors will see me.’ I asked a doctor to see my mum urgently and they told me it wasn’t an emergency and there was only one doctors on call at Nevill Hall that weekend.

“Rude nurses made mum cry, plus no one answered the phone on reception for two weeks. There's so many problems with neglect it’s not acceptable. I had meetings with consultants to say mums’ wishes was not to be told if she was getting worse or dying. The next day the doctor told her sorry it’s not good news.

“The discharge lady upset us all as a family by saying my mam was medically fit, totally independent and would be ok to be discharged without carers.

“This was my mum, not another number. these things need to be addressed and people retrained. I never want another family to go through what we have.

“Just because my mum had a face of make up on and her hair immaculately done as usual, do no tell me she is medically fit and does not require care at home and perfectly independent when her insides say something different.

“We need changes now as my dad is ill and he has been for the past 17 years as mum was his full-time carer. There's a chance he will have to go on the same ward, and I don’t think I can go through all of this again.”

On March 15, 2023, Mrs Dagger Price was admitted back to The Grange and sadly died on March 27, 2023.

Mrs Dagger Price on St David's Day 2023 in intensive care at The Grange Hospital (Image: Tracy Congreve)

The Ebbw Vale woman was married to Douglas Price for an amazing 54 years and was his full-time carer for 17 of those.

Hundreds of people came up to pay their respects to the much-loved Ebbw Vale woman as 150 mourners lined the streets.

Mrs Congreve said: “There was around 200 people at the church, 150 people lined the street and we had a horse and carriage.

“The Ebbw Vale male voice choir even sang at her funeral.

“She was the owner of her own jewellery store for the past 25 years selling gold at a Friday market, she was so well known and loved. Mum was also a hairdresser in Ebbw Vale for 60 years.

“Her dress sense was outrageous; she was so beautiful just like a little doll and she always had her hair and makeup done even when she was in hospital.

“Our lives are shattered, and we will never be the same again, we have lost our beautiful, caring one of a kind queen who we called mum and Susan Dagger to the world.

“Her last words were I’m a fighter, we might have had a few months more if we hadn’t had this negligence.

“We are now making it our ambition to find a cure for CREST, we are aiming to start a charity in her honour to hopefully find a cure.”

A spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “Our thoughts are with the family of Mrs Price at this difficult time.

“The Health Board has met with Mrs Price’s daughter and conducted an investigation into the care her mother received. We are sharing the findings of our investigation in an open and transparent way with the family to ensure that all their questions are answered.”