AN inquest into the death of a ‘devoted’ husband and grandfather who died following a road accident near Levens opened yesterday.

Dementia sufferer Peter Hunt, 83, collided with a vehicle on the road on December 6 ,2016.

It occurred just hours after he had left his bed on a chronically short staffed ward at the Royal Preston Hospital without anyone noticing, the hearing was told.

It is believed the retired caretaker, who lived in supported accommodation at Edgecombe Court in Kendal and used a walking frame, had been attempting to make his way home alone on public transport.

Home office pathologist Dr Alison Armer concluded his cause of death had been a heart attack following injuries caused by a road traffic accident.

Assistant coroner for Cumbria, Robert Chapman, heard Mr Hunt had initially been taken to hospital by ambulance to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary on December 4, a week before he died, with a suspected ischaemic leg.

He was then transferred overnight to the Royal Preston Hospital where he waited in the emergency admissions department for a number of hours before eventually being admitted to Ward 12, the hearing was told.

A statement from Ward 12 sister Deborah Cooke, who had been in charge of the unit at the time, was read out to the inquest, describing the extent of the staff shortages.

She said: “Ward 12 has 32 beds and has been severely understaffed. There were half the number of trained nurses that there should have been on the ward.”

But Sister Cooke admitted she had been distracted by personal issues on the day and that she had not known that Mr Hunt suffered from dementia and had not noticed he had left the ward.

The inquest went on to hear evidence from Sister Gaynor Wilkinson, who took over the ward on the late shift.

She claimed Sister Cooke had refused to complete a handover for male patients, stating she had been busy and was too tired.

Nursing colleagues confirmed to the inquest that this situation was unheard of, and that handovers from one shift to another were essential.

Sister Wilkinson added: “Sister Cooke said she wasn’t going to hand over the male end of the ward because she was too tired.

“We saw bed eight was empty, the one occupied by Mr Hunt, but it had another name on the list.

“The patients said Mr Hunt was unhappy about being on the ward and had left.”

The inquest was told had hospital staff known Mr Hunt had suffered from dementia, health care assistants would have spent more time with him and ensured he was in a bed nearer to the nurses station.

Mr Hunt’s daughter Reina Mitchell had not been informed about his hospital admission or transfer despite being his official next of kin, she said.

She added she had become aware only when a police officer called to say he had been involved in a road accident at Levens.

Mr Hunt had been inseparable from Joyce, his wife of 60 years, Mrs Mitchell went on, and made a three hour round trip to visit her in a care home near Lancaster every single day despite suffering from mobility issues. She said his death had devastated the whole family.

“By the time my father had been admitted to Preston hospital on December 6 he had already been subject to two unaccompanied ambulance journeys, transfers into two emergency departments and one waiting area. My parents were devoted to each other for 60 years. "

“My father was always positive, kind and supportive and we were devastated to have lost him in such circumstances.”

The inquest continues.