The widow and children of a man who died after having lived at St Vincent de Paul Home this morning sued the CEO of the home and the permanent secretary at the Ministry for Social Solidarity saying that he had suffered degrading treatment and was 'medically abandoned'.

The court application was filed by Emily Lancaster, widow of Leonard Thomas, and their children Theresa and Caroline.

Mr Lancaster passed away on August 28, aged 81.

He had suffered various strokes leaving him with disabilities in various parts of his body, making it difficult for him to speak and communicate.

In June he was admitted to St Vincent de Paul home and place in St Joseph Ward 2.

The relatives said he became the victim of careless and irresponsible behaviour by the nursing officers in that ward as well as insensitivity by some of the members of the staff.

On July 20 he was transferred to Mater Dei Hospital and placed in intensive care as he suffered from the lack of care at St Vincent de Paul Home.

Mater Dei Hospital doctors established that he was suffering “a severely ulcerated fournier’s gangrene with pus exudates”, because he had been medically abandoned at St Vincent de Paul.

“During procedure, it was found that the area of necrosis and pus collection extended from the left ischiorectoral fossa, crossing middle over urethra but involving the urethra. Necrosis also in the region of the rectum” the doctors wrote.

He had also suffered hypothermia having been left for hours in a hospital corridor under an air conditioner. As a result, he developed a chest infection and his condition deteriorated.

Despite instructions to the contrary, members of staff had tried mouth feeding him when he should have been fed by drip, creating the risk of choking.

The relatives said that one of them had seen a carer wiping a patient's face with the same cloth with which he had wiped a table.

The carers had also used the same shaving blade on different patients.

The wounds which the patient had suffered as a result of lack of care had been allowed to fester, causing infection to spread to different parts of his body.

Complaints made to nursing officers were ignored.

At Mater Dei, doctors found that the patient was suffering perineal gangrene which had developed over a period of time because of lack of care. He was also severely dehydrated.

Yet he was kept at Mater Dei for only a few days, and then sent back to St Vincent de Paul. On the insistence of the family, he was put in a different ward, the Loreto Ward.

The family said the treatment Mr Lancaster had been given was inhuman and degrading and the way he was treated had also caused psychological trauma to his family.

The applicants therefore asked the court to declare that Mr Lancaster had been inhumanely treated and had suffered medical negligence. The court was asked to order the payment of non-pecuniary damages in terms of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Dr Tonio Azzopardi signed the application.