This is one of the injuries Alzheimer's patient Sylvia Hands suffered – after she was admitted to a Bristol hospital ward.

The 78-year-old widow's face, arms and legs were badly bruised and she had a gash to her face that required nine stitches.

This happened after she fell for the second time in 48 hours at Southmead Hospital, where she had been admitted with a chest infection.

Her daughter wanted to take her home after her mother's first fall but doctors persuaded her that staff would keep an eye on the frail elderly woman, who has a tendency to wander when she is somewhere she doesn't know.

The trust that runs Southmead Hospital says it has launched a full investigation into Mrs Hands' care.

The former Land Girl, who has lived with her daughter and son-in-law Carol and Gordon Turner in Coombe Bridge Avenue, Stoke Bishop, for five years, was admitted to Southmead Hospital on November 12 with what turned out to be pneumonia.

Mrs Turner, who trained as a nurse, said: "On Sunday morning when I went to visit her I was horrified to hear that she had climbed out the bottom of the bed, had fallen and cut her leg. She had also been wandering down the corridor unaided.

"I immediately informed the nurse that I felt she was at risk in hospital and that I wanted to take her home. He paged a doctor.

"The doctor felt my mother should stay in hospital to complete antibiotic treatment. I felt she was at risk, particularly as there was a low level of staff to keep an eye on her."

The doctor called a registrar who also wanted Mrs Hands to stay in hospital in a main ward.

Mrs Turner, 56, who works in an old people's home, said: "I expressed my concerns about this, as on a previous occasion when she had been on that ward I had found her wandering in the corridor as I was coming in to visit her. Not one nurse had noticed she had gone."

Mrs Hands was put in a main ward opposite the nurses' station so staff could keep an eye on her.

But that night she fell a second time, suffering a serious gash and severe bruising.

Mrs Turner said: "My mother needed nine stitches above and around her left eye, she had grazes to her cheek, jaw, arms, and legs, her glasses were broken, her teeth chipped. She looks as though she has been in the boxing ring."

Mrs Hands, who was the manageress of a flour company canteen in Avonmouth, was described as a "real trouper with a terrific personality".

Mrs Turner said: "I'm sure the staff do care but there are not enough of them.

"On the first night she was in hospital there was one nurse on duty. I think there should be separate wards for dementia patients and all nurses should be trained how to look after them."

Last night Carol De Halle, the acting director of nursing for North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Southmead Hospital, said: "I am very concerned to hear about this incident and would like to assure Mrs Turner that North Bristol NHS Trust is taking this extremely seriously.

"At NBT the safety of our patients is our number one priority.

"We have spoken to Mrs Turner and a full investigation into what happened to her mother is under way."

The incident happened in a week when the Alzheimer's Society revealed that most people with dementia left hospital in a worse condition than when they arrived.