Hundreds of patients dying of thirst in Britain's hospitals In 2009, 22-year-old Kane Gorny died after losing a third of his body fluids while recovering from a hip operation in St George's Hospital in Tooting, South West London. At an inquest into his death, the coroner blamed neglect by "incompetent staff." The findings also come the day after the Royal College of Nursing has launched a campaign to try to repair the damaged reputation of nurses. Patients" Association chief executive Katherine Murphy said: "The Kane Gorny case was a particularly shocking one, and these figures suggest that the lessons have not been learnt. Deaths from dehydration are totally unacceptable in today's NHS. She added: "Our helpline receives thousands of calls each year about poor care in hospitals. Patients simply have not received the dignity and care they deserve. Inadequate nutrition is one of the key concerns raised with us, often patients need support to eat and drink but in far too many cases this is not happening. Change is urgently needed to improve this area of care. Peter Walsh, of the charity Action Against Medical Accidents, said: "Sadly, failure to monitor fluid intake is an all too familiar aspect of cases we have been involved in. All too often it is elderly patients who are worst affected by dehydration in hospitals. Every case is unique. But what we need is a system where it is impossible for the basic provision of fluid to fail.