The widow of a former regional daily editor is to take legal action over his fatal fall in a hospital ward.

Liz Lewis, the wife of former Gloucestershire Echo editor Kevan Blackadder, has alleged medical negligence by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust led to her husband’s death.

Ms Lewis told an inquest into her husband’s death he had been unable to get any help from staff when he wanted to use the toilet at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, which led to him falling and fracturing his skull.

Kevan, who was 60, was suffering from bowel cancer and receiving palliative care at the Gloucester hospital at the time of his death.

According to Gloucestershire Live, his widow said that on 13 January this year he kept on falling over at home and she became so concerned that she called an ambulance, which took him to the hospital’s A&E unit.

Ms Lewis claimed Kevan was kept on a trolley for two days before being admitted, adding the A&E staff and the clinical staff on the ward had not consulted each other about her husband’s light-headedness and had differing views about the cause.

Kevan, who edited the Cheltenham-based Echo from 2008 to 2014, died on 18 January this year.

The inquest heard Prof Mark Pietroni, director for safety and medical matters at GRH, had revealed that Kevan had suffered an “unwitnessed fall as he attempted to make his way, unaided, to the toilet”.

Prof Pietroni added: “The fall resulted in a fracture of his skull and bleeding within the brain and he died within eight hours of his fall.

“His injuries were attributed to the injuries sustained during the fall. He was already weakened by the infection and had become disorientated in an unfamiliar environment upon waking up.

“It is likely he suffered a drop in blood pressure upon standing up. This probably led him to fall due to his medication for bowel cancer.

“On admission he had been assessed as able to use the bell to summon assistance.”

Mrs Lewis interjected at that point in the Professor’s statement and told the coroner that her husband had tried summoning help at 4.55am and had received no response so he chose to go to the toilet unaided.

She went on to claim the staff showed “little sympathy” towards her husband, telling the inquest: “When Kevan first arrived at the hospital he spent two days on a trolley. I was told that the medical staff didn’t think he would make it out of hospital alive.

“The hospital staff called me to inform me that Kevan had suffered a fall. As soon as I arrived I noticed he was barely conscious and covered in blood. His right ear was particularly covered in congealed blood .

“At 11.55am my husband stopped breathing and I went for help. A nurse replied ‘He’s gone’. I stayed with him for the next hour.

“As I left with my husband’s belongings I asked the nurses to clean him up. I was utterly disgusted with their attitude.

“My whole experience at the hospital had been extremely shocking and I want answers as to why somebody in their care suffered such a fatal fall.”

Emma Hart, ward manager, told the hearing this was an exception to the high standards normally adhered to in the hospital.

Assistant Gloucestershire coroner Roland Wooderson recorded an accidental death conclusion, at which point Ms Lewis told him she planned on bringing a medical negligence claim against the hospital authority.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was approached for a comment by Gloucestershire Live.