Grieving family of Phillip Leith, in photo, who died of lung cancer in January. From left, his brother Tony Leith, nephew Josh Blair, Josh's partner Mel Carney, niece Stevie Blair and sister Steph Blair.
The grieving family of an Invercargill man say he unnecessarily endured pain and suffering while he was in Southland Hospital due to being given inadequate pain relief.
Family members say their loved one, Phillip Leith, 65, had a "scared" look on his face, was uttering the words "help me", and was trying to clamber out of bed during his 48-hour stay at the hospital on January 15 and 16.
He was in the end stages of lung cancer and died a day after being transferred from the hospital to the nearby hospice.
Phillip Leith's family believe he was in pain in the hospital.
His family were horrified at the pain he had suffered while in the hospital, with some having trauma counselling since, they said.
"He was supposed to be comfortable ... but when he woke up he was trying to breathe and he was panicking," his sister Steph Blair said.
"The pain for him was horrific and he wasn't getting [adequate] pain relief."
Leith's loved ones said their pleas to hospital staff for more pain medication were slow to be met, with an increase taking about two hours to get signed off on each occasion.
When he did eventually get pain relief, it held for just 20 minutes before he went through the pain again, they said.
This happened many times, they said.
The family plan to lodge a complaint with the health and disability commissioner and would like an apology from the hospital.
Blair signed a waiver giving permission to the Southern District Health Board to speak to Stuff about Leith's treatment while he was in Southland Hospital.
In a short statement on Monday, health board chief medical officer, Dr Nigel Millar said: "This has clearly been a very difficult situation, and we acknowledge the distress of the family.
"We do not discuss individual patient care in the media, but would be very willing to discuss this situation with the family directly, and answer any outstanding questions they may have."
He added: "Southern DHB aims to provide the best possible care for all of its patients and we take any concerns about patient care very seriously.
"We are reviewing all aspects of the care we delivered to Mr Leith, and have been in contact with the family to request the opportunity to meet with them to discuss their concerns.
"The opportunity to meet and hear directly from a family is an important part of understanding of what happened, and where we may have failed, meet our responsibilities."
Leith was diagnosed with lung cancer in November and he started a course of chemotherapy on January 10, his family said.
However, his family said he developed complications and several days later he was admitted to Southland Hospital, where staff told them early the next morning that nothing could be done for him.
His family said hospital staff had told them he would be kept comfortable, but they were adamant he was far from comfortable.
Blair said her family's complaint not with the people working at the hospital.
"The nurses were running constantly and were unable to meet the demands of care for the patients. They are understaffed. It's the system."
Leith was eventually transferred from the hospital after 48 hours and taken to the hospice in Invercargill, where his pain relief was nearly trebled, his family said.
This allowed him to relax and he died at the hospice the following day, on January 18.
The family decided to speak out in the hope it would not happen to someone else.
"It's still pretty raw," Blair said. "How many others are going through that sort of stuff?"