It's always a sad story when a hospital neglects its duties to its patients. It's even worse when the patient is an elderly person, who may not be able to protect themselves. This was the case, when Lulu Howe was left in Texas Hospital for three days without food and with a broken hip.

Howe's family are demanding answers as to why their 96-year-old grandmother was neglected and forgotten about for three days with a hip that was broken in three places.

When Howe slipped and fell in her garden, her family had called an ambulance to take Howe to Texas Hospital where she was x-rayed and placed on a drip. The hospital staff told Howe's family she would need to be flown to either Brisbane or Ipswich for an urgent surgery.

Three days later, after languishing in Texas Hospital without food or proper bedding, Howe was finally flown out of Stanthorpe, but not without coming down with a case of pneumonia from the cold room and lack of bedding.

While Texas Hospital's spokesperson denies the claims of neglect, Mrs. Howe was finally taken by ambulance on Friday, three days after arriving with a broken hip, to Stanthorpe Aerodrome and was then flew to Ipswich by a Government Aircraft.

Her family was upset because they were told originally that their grandmother needed to be flown out by at least Wednesday to be operated on.

Texas Hospital's spokesperson stated that, "Judgments about the timing of retrievals are overseen by experienced clinicians." The family, however, contacted RACQ CareFlight, who told them they were never alerted by Queensland Health for a patient flight to Texas.

The spokeswoman went on to say that "The patient was made comfortable at Texas Hospital and received appropriate treatment in consultation with the orthopaedic registrar at Ipswich Hospital," and that "Patients being treated for broken bones can often refuse food due to nausea resulting from either pain medication or pain from their injuries."

As for the pneumonia, the spokeswoman also said that the staff at Texas Hospital "willingly adjust air-conditioning levels or provide warmer linen to any patient on request". Mrs. Howe is recovering well and the spokesperson declined to comment in further detail about her health due to privacy reasons. Mrs. Howe's family will likely continue to look into the incident, as one family member said "they are angry about the delay in flying her out, given her age and the urgency of the situation."

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