Great-grandmother : Gloria Ross , 84 , died following a stroke in hospital – after she was ignored by nurses for more than an hour , her distraught family say . A great-grandmother died following a stroke in hospital – after she was ignored by nurses for more than an hour , her distraught family say . Gloria Ross , 84 , who spent 30 years in the National Health Service as a nurse , was found with a distorted face when she was visited by her grandson Wayne Wilkins , 25 . But when he asked nurses at Whipps Cross Hospital , North East London , for help , they said Mrs Ross was ‘ just tired ’ – and told him the senior nurse was ‘ on a break ’ . Mr Wilkins called his mother , Mrs Ross ’ daughter Maxine , 49 , who rushed to the hospital and pleaded with nurses to step in . It was not until an hour had passed that Mrs Ross was finally assessed by a doctor , who realised she had suffered a stroke and arranged for her to be taken to a stroke unit at Royal London Hospital . However , she never regained full consciousness and died two weeks later . Crucially , her oxygen levels were not checked until she was seen by the ambulance crew – 90 minutes after Mr Wilkins raised the alarm . They were found to be at a level where brain damage can set in . Barts Health NHS Trust , which runs Whipps Cross and was put into special measures last month over a series of failings , has begun an investigation into the treatment of Mrs Ross . The nurses ’ alleged inaction occurred despite the NHS ’ s own campaign – launched six years ago – that uses the acronym FAST , standing for Face , Arms , Speech , Time . People are told to call 999 ‘ immediately ’ if a suspected victim ’ s face has fallen on one side , they can not raise their arms or if their speech is slurred . Describing her mother ’ s appearance after the stroke , Miss Ross said : ‘ Although she opened her eyes , she could not communicate and became agitated with pain , so was on morphine . It was awful watching her like that . ‘ There were at least four nurses on the ward at Whipps Cross but they didn ’ t do anything until I hit the roof . ‘ My mother gave her working life to the NHS . Although she has shown early signs of dementia , she was still very much with it , still very quick apart from memory loss sometimes . Inquiry : Barts Health NHS Trust , which runs Whipps Cross ( above ) and was put into special measures last month over a series of failings , has begun an investigation into the treatment of Mrs Ross . ‘ What was killing me was wondering how long my mother had been there before Wayne saw her . She still recognised us when I got to Whipps Cross so she must have been wondering why nobody was coming to help her . I want other people to be aware of what happened and for the hospital to make sure it never happens again. ’ Mrs Ross , a widow with four grandchildren and a great-grandchild , was being looked after by her daughter at home but was admitted to Whipps Cross after developing a urinary infection . She suffered the stroke on Sunday , March 22 and died in the Royal London on April 2 . Her case comes after Barts Health Trust was put into special measures by the Care Quality Commission watchdog last month due to a catalogue of failings at Whipps Cross . A Barts Health NHS Trust spokesman said : ‘ We are extremely concerned to learn of the issues raised by the family of Mrs Ross . We will be conducting an investigation . ’
Gloria Ross was found with a distorted face when grandson saw her . He raised alarm with nurses at # ##tead Hospital , North East London . But they said she was ‘ just tired ’ and that senior nurse was ‘ on a break ’ Later that she 'd had nightmares - and she never regained consciousness .