THE SISTER of a man who died in hospital after being beaten claims he might still be alive if he had been treated with more urgency.

Paula Gouge has lodged a complaint with the NHS watchdog about her claims of inadequate care at a Hampshire hospital.

Her brother, John Cooper, 54, of Tudor Close, Gosport, was taken by ambulance to Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA), in Portsmouth, after she found him severely beaten at his flat. He had bruises and black eyes.

She called 999 and followed the ambulance to hospital and waited with him until he was treated.

After several hours, she claims, Mr Cooper was diagnosed as having internal bleeding and in need of emergency treatment. But she was told there were not enough emergency beds to take him, so he was transferred 12 miles back to his home town hospital, Royal Hospital Haslar.

Mr Cooper was taken to the Portsmouth hospital on Sunday, October 29, and was moved to Gosport on the same day, but died the next day.

His sister claims he was kept waiting several hours until treated with painkillers, given an X-ray and had blood pressure taken.

She said: "I can't prove it. I'm not a medical expert, but in the state he was in with his injuries he should have been treated a lot earlier. I feel very strongly my brother might still be alive today if he had not been taken to QA first. Instead, they didn't seem to treat his case with enough urgency."

Mrs Gouge, 42, a school dinner lady, of Camden Street, Gosport, is also upset the man responsible for the beating was punished with "only' a police caution after admitting assault.

She criticised it as an inadequate sanction, even though she accepts the beating was not directly responsible for her brother's death. Mrs Gouge added: "My brother was an alcoholic, but it doesn't justify the way he was treated."

She has written to NHS watchdog Fareham and South East Hampshire Community Health Council for help in making an official complaint.

A spokesman for Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said the circumstances of Mr Cooper's treatment were being looked into.