Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Leicester woman believes prompt treatment could have saved elderly father

Gurmukh Banwait, 75, who complained of breathing difficulties died after waiting for 17 hours at Glenfield Hospital at a time when the healthcare system came under ‘exceptional pressure'.

Leicester woman believes prompt treatment could have saved elderly father

A Leicester woman believes her ailing father would not have died if he had received prompt treatment during the Christmas-New Year period when the healthcare system came under pressure.

Gurmukh Banwait, 75, complained of breathing difficulties on December 26 but there were delays in the ambulance service. On December 28, he was taken to Glenfield Hospital where he had to wait for 17 hours in a “cold waiting room” before being admitted to a ward around midnight on December 29 with his health declining.

His daughter Balbinder Kaur said a nurse told the family that Banwait was “doing fine” but there was a “short supply” of oxygen machines. Banwait later died of major organ failure.

The chain of events leading up to his death took place at a time when the NHS was struggling to cope with a surge in the number of patients using accident and emergency services in Leicester.

“[My father] told me while we were in the hospital, ‘I can’t believe we’re in the UK and I’m sitting here, waiting for a bed for this long’. He actually said that when we got out of there, he wanted to speak up on the issue,” Kaur told LeicestershireLive.

“My dad is gone now and there’s nothing I can do about that but the government needs to understand that this is not right,” she said.

Given the family was told the man was not critical when he went in, Kaur wondered how his condition deteriorated “so quickly?"

According to her, "he has been failed."

She said, "I feel guilty because he went to the hospital at the wrong time. He said when we got there that he just wanted to go home but he was feeling so unwell and if we left it would be considered a self-discharge and we’d have to go through the whole process again. He’d even said to me that he was scared to go because once you go, you don’t come back alive.” She said, “that’s my biggest regret, that we went in the first place because he might still be here.”

According to LeicestershireLive, Kaur raised a complaint with Leicester Hospitals, saying her father did not receive the care he should have.

However, Leicester Hospitals medical director Andrew Furlong said the whole health and care system was exceptionally pressured between Christmas and New Year.

“All efforts were made to ensure patients with the most urgent clinical needs were seen first,” Furlong said.

More For You

uk weather

Forecasts indicate that the weekend will be unsettled

Getty Images

Cooler conditions bring relief as UK heatwave ends

Key points

  • UK's second heatwave of 2025 ends with cooler temperatures setting in.
  • Tuesday recorded the year’s highest temperature at 34.7°C in London.
  • No return to heatwave conditions forecast for early July.
  • Showers expected in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with drier weather ahead.

UK heatwave fades as cooler weather returns

Following a stretch of record-breaking heat, the UK has now entered a cooler phase, with no heatwave conditions forecast for the first half of July. This change comes after Tuesday became the hottest day of the year so far, with 34.7°C recorded in London’s St James’s Park.

However, the high temperatures that marked the start of July have now given way to more comfortable conditions. In many parts of the country, temperatures have dropped by more than 10°C, bringing relief from the extreme heat.

Keep ReadingShow less
Families slam Hancock's 'insulting' care home defence at Covid inquiry

Matt Hancock arrives ahead of his latest appearance before the Covid-19 Inquiry on July 02, 2025 in London, England.(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Families slam Hancock's 'insulting' care home defence at Covid inquiry

BEREAVED families have condemned former health secretary Matt Hancock as "insulting" and "full of excuses" after he defended the controversial policy of moving untested hospital patients into care homes during the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Speaking at the Covid-19 inquiry on Wednesday (2), Hancock described the decision to discharge patients into care homes as "the least-worst decision" available at the time, despite the devastating death toll that followed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer-Getty

Starmer has said the NHS must 'reform or die' and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Starmer outlines 10-year NHS reform strategy

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer will on Thursday launch a 10-year strategy aimed at fixing the National Health Service (NHS), which he said was in crisis. The plan seeks to ease the pressure on overstretched hospitals and shift care closer to people’s homes.

The NHS, which is publicly funded and state-run, has faced difficulties recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues to experience annual winter pressures, repeated waves of industrial action, and a long backlog for elective treatments.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer-Reeves-Getty

Starmer and Reeves during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton, to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy on June 23, 2025 in Nuneaton. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Reeves ‘going nowhere’, says Starmer after tears in parliament

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Wednesday said that Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain in her role for “a very long time to come”, after she appeared visibly upset in parliament as questions were raised about her future.

Reeves was seen with tears rolling down her face during Prime Minister’s Questions, after Starmer did not confirm whether she would remain chancellor until the next general election, expected in 2029.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh begins trial over slain student activist

Chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus , prays at Abu Sayeed’s grave

Bangladesh begins trial over slain student activist

BANGLADESH opened on Monday (30) the murder trial of student protester Abu Sayeed, whose killing last year escalated demonstrations nationwide that ultimately ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sayeed died aged 23 in the northern city of Rangpur, the first student demonstrator killed in the police crackdown on protests.

Keep ReadingShow less