THE son of an 81-year-old woman discharged from hospital four days after suffering a heart attack has criticised what he sees as a conveyer belt policy'.

Adrian Walker, of Hawkeridge Park, said his mother Rowena, of Clovergrass Court, Bratton, was sent home too early from the Royal United Hospital, Bath and was not asked about where she would be staying or what the facilities were like in her home.

She was taken into hospital on Easter Sunday and last Wednesday was still bedbound. On Thursday morning her bags were packed and her son was told she was ready to be picked up. Mr Walker said: "The whole system seems to have disintegrated into conveyer belt policy to facilitate more beds being available and with more cottage hospitals closing it means more people going to the RUH."

While he had no criticism of the treatment his mother received in hospital, he was angry there was not more investigation into how she would cope once she left. "Less than 24 hours before she was not even allowed to walk and was being tested every hour," he said.

"There was no inquiry as to what her home conditions were like. If there had been they'd have found out she lives in a first-floor flat. She couldn't even get up the two steps into my house without assistance so she'd have had no chance with her flat."

Mrs Walker said she was shocked when nurses told her she was going home. "They came along and said we are packing your bags' and before I knew where I was a wheelchair was there and I was wheeled away. One nurse said, you're not going yet are you?' so it must have been quite unusual," she said. "I wasn't feeling particularly good and didn't feel like I should be going.

"And now there's no community hospitals there's no halfway stage. It was nice when we had Westbury Hospital because people could go there to get better." Acting director of nursing at RUH Deborah Gray said a full investigation was being carried out into Mr Walker's complaint.

She said: "When patients experiencing chest pain are admitted to the RUH, they are treated as emergency cases requiring urgent tests and treatment. "One treatment is bed rest which will prevent any additional strain on the heart. Once tests indicate that a patient is no longer at risk they are able to mobilise again.

"In order to ensure that we have beds available to treat either high risk or very ill patients it is important that we promptly discharge patients who no longer require acute care."