Kathlyn Gadd has hit out at £306m NHS cuts to Staffordshire services
Royal Stoke University Hospital(Image: Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)
A concerned daughter has accused Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) of being “callous” and “cruel” over planned cuts after her father was denied end-of-life care. NHS organisations in Staffordshire are planning to make £306m of savings this year to NHS services across the county.
The ICB’s decision to slash spending has been made to meet nationally-set government targets – but the proposed cuts to continuing healthcare (CHC) plans have drawn heavy criticism from council leaders and residents alike.
Kathlyn Gadd, 63, says she is worried that the cuts will have a profound impact on patient welfare going forward. Her 86-year-old father, Geoffrey Foddy, was recently denied end-of-life care – shortly before the cuts were announced.
She told StokeonTrentLive: “My dad was admitted to Vascular Ward at the Royal Stoke University Hospital with a clot that was cutting off the blood supply to his leg. They couldn’t operate or offer an amputation because he’s frail and old.
“Essentially, it was a case where they couldn’t do anything for him. So they said they’d send him home with end-of-life palliative care. His discharge letter said he had weeks to live.”
Despite being told he would given palliative care on June 13, 2025, Geoffrey and his family were left shocked after the hospital discharge team quickly overturned the decision on June 17.
Kathlyn explained: “They basically went into my dad’s room while he was on his own and told him that he didn’t qualify for palliative care because he wasn’t going to die fast enough. Apparently it was because they thought he’d live beyond two weeks. They also said the medication he was on was deferring the gangrene.
“This was the first time my dad fully realised he was terminal. He was very distressed. The staff on the ward were horrified with the decision. One of the nurses was in tears with him. We appealed the decision twice while he was on the ward, but we were unsuccessful. Some doctors we spoke to said this was a recurring issue.
“When we asked them what is their kind of definition for when palliative care should be prescribed, their response was that it should be given when a patient is no longer eating or drinking. So you’re talking literal days before they die.”
Kathlyn believes the situation was handled in the “most inhumane and unempathetic manner possible”.
“I had two reactions to this news,” she said. “I was extremely upset with the decision and I was extremely angry with how they chose to tell him. The way they just walked in and announced it without any family there.
“When you’re facing losing the prospect of losing a family member, you’re already dealing with an awful lot of things. And this lack of compassion, this treatment that you’re just a line on a spreadsheet that can be cut, is just completely lacking in humanity.
“It’s just callous. And now these cuts are essentially going to mean that more people who would qualify for palliative care aren’t qualifying. And it means that people are going to have to fund the costs of care themselves, despite being entitled to receive support. It’s just another burden on people in the community.”
The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB said it is aware of Kathlyn’s concerns.
But they have insisted that Geoffrey has been appropriately assessed on multiple occasions, and that he does not meet the nationally-set criteria for the End of Life Home Care Pathway.
An ICB spokesperson said: “The Palliative Care Coordination Centre continues to monitor the patient via community nurses who are continuing to visit the patient daily to provide at home care and support.
“Should any deterioration in the patient’s condition be observed another referral will be made immediately. We would like to issue our best wishes to the family.”
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