A Glasgow man was found dead three days after being turned away by his doctor's surgery and told there was nothing wrong with him.
A letter from the practice, which arrived after he had died, threatened to remove him from their patient list.
It stated the belief 'there was no reason for your attendance' at the Govan surgery on December 23.
However on Boxing Day, Raymond Scougall's brother Gary tragically found him dead on his bedroom floor, Daily Record reports.
Raymond, 40, and Gary, 41, were both stabbed nine years ago in a confrontation with a man who was later jailed for 11 years for the assault.
While Gary’s operation was a success, Raymond’s injury was so severe he required five operations over the years to repair a serious hernia in his stomach.
But after the last operation the hospital told him there was no more they could do for him.
Gary claimed: “By the time he died, Raymond’s hernia was the size of a baby’s head coming out his stomach.
“He continued to ask for help from his GP and for pain relief, but neither was given to him.”
A post-mortem held two days ago concluded Raymond’s death was related to his hernia.
His mum, Christina, said: “The post-mortem said it was caused by a loss of blood after his hernia burst through his stomach wall.”
Results of blood tests taken during the post-mortem will not be available for three months but the family have been given permission for Raymond’s funeral to go ahead next week.
Gary added: “My mum took him to his NHS appointments when he needed to go to the hospital and for the surgery but they never gave him much help.
"They said his stomach wall couldn’t hold his intestines any more. The stomach wall couldn’t hold the pressure of his hernia.
“He has been in constant pain for years and it has been getting worse. He has been going in and out of his GP asking for pain relief but he wasn’t being given anything at all.
“He was in agony and it looked like the mesh was coming out his stomach. He had to clean out the hole in his stomach himself every day.
“On December 23, he went along with my mum to his GP because he was in so much pain.
But the doctor told him, ‘There is no need for you to be here’ and said to my mum, ‘There is nothing wrong with him’.”
Gary accepts his brother may have sworn at medics through sheer frustration and pain.
But he said: “He was treated so badly it wouldn’t have been surprising. He was clearly really suffering but no-one wanted to know.”
On Christmas Day, Raymond spent most of the day in his bedroom.
Gary said: “He used to go in there and sit for hours on his computer.
“But the next morning I never heard a sound coming from his room. His door was jammed so I had to force it open to get into the room.
“When I went in I saw him on the floor and there was blood over his stomach area. He was bleeding from his wound and mesh was coming out.”
Gary turned him round and realised his brother was dead.
He continued: “I don’t want another family to be treated the way Raymond was treated.
"All we want is for the medical practice not to treat anyone else the way they treated Raymond.”
After Raymond’s death, a letter addressed to him from Midlock Medical Centre in Govan, Glasgow, and dated Christmas Eve, arrived.
It read: “You attended our surgery on December 23.
"There was no reason for your attendance and when asked to leave you swore and were offensive to our office manager.
"Repetition of this behaviour will result in your removal from our list.”
Gary said: “We’re looking for answers but the doctors at the surgery are refusing to see my mum or talk to her about it.”
The family was originally from Montrose but had been living in Govan for a number of years.
A spokeswoman for the Midlock said: “We are not going to comment on any of that information.”
