Flog It! star Michael Baggott complained about the level of care he received on the crisis-hit NHS just weeks before his death – saying he was left ‘badly dehydrated’ and ‘dying of thirst’.
The BBC antiques expert, 65, yesterday passed away following a heart attack, a statement posted on his social media confirmed on Monday evening.
Baggott had previously been left bedbound for weeks after suffering a suspected stroke last October.
The NHS is coming under increasing pressure from patients and politicians for the increasingly poor care patients recieve under Labour.
Elderly patients have complained of being abandoned in corridors for hours, and damning research has recently suggested more than 57,000 patients died last year as a result of waiting over 12 hours in A&E.
In December, the antiques expert Mr Baggott took to social media where he catalogued the poor care he claimed to have received whilst undergoing treatment at the Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham.
In a worrying series of clips posed to his X account at the time, he claimed he had hardly been given any water by mouth and was ‘dying of thirst’.
Filming himself, he told fans: ‘It’s been a week now and I’ve been able to take fluids for two days. I was left without any water at all and have become badly dehydrated.
‘For the last three days, I’ve been given a litre of water, which has been insufficient to stop me being dehydrated.
‘The gaps between being given water have been 15 hours, 17 hours with no water, 12 hours with no water and currently 15 hours with no water intravenous.’
He added: ‘I’m dying of thirst in a British NHS hospital and no one seems prepared to do anything about it.’ While this was never confirmed, there could have been medical reasons why he wasn’t being given lots of water, such as inability to swallow and danger of choking.
Flog It! star Michael Baggott left fans worried after sharing a series of videos from his hospital bed last October
In a worrying series of clips posed to his X account, he claimed he had hardly been given any water by mouth and was ‘dying of thirst’
Michael had been one of BBC One’s Flog It’s most recognisable faces, with his expert categories being antique silver, smallwork, boxes, early spoons, provincial and continental silver
‘I want to say the nursing staff, the junior doctors here, have been the saving grace. They all want to help but they can’t. The senior management and the senior doctors, who I never see, always refuse water, always refuse treatment.
‘One told me yesterday If I don’t buck up my ideas, in three weeks I’ll never be able to walk again. Of course the junior staff told me that was nonsense, but it’s symptomatic of the treatment in this place.
‘All the staff are busting their gut to help you, the management and the senior surgeons are not’, he concluded.
MailOnline has contacted Good Hope Hospital for comment.
The post confirming the antique expert’s death read: ‘Heartbroken to share that Michael died yesterday in hospital of a heart attack following a stroke in October.
‘He was a dearly loved son, brother, nephew and uncle who will be deeply and profoundly missed. There will be a memorial service in the coming weeks, the details of which will be shared here.’
Bargain Hunt and Antiques Roadshow star Charles Hanson was among those to pay tribute.
‘Rest in peace @baggottsilver A giant of our antique industry, our ‘Arthur Negus ‘ and never afraid to call out ‘an expert’ who got it wrong including myself. Michael’s thirst for knowledge for the ‘object within’ merited far more TV time too for a true and proper expert.’
Flog It! expert Nick Hall also tweeted: ‘So sorry to hear this, Michael was a true connoisseur and ambassador of the antiques world, a font of knowledge and generous with his knowledge, a raconteur and all round top bloke, a pleasure to have known you Michael.’
Flog It! star Michael Baggott has died after suffering a heart attack
Flog It! was axed in 2018 to make room for six new commissions to ‘modernise’ the daytime schedule
The weeks leading up to Christmas saw the antiques star tweeting regularly as he tuned into his favourite antiques TV shows.
He made a series of jokes about his health as he shared his expertise with followers, writing in a December 10 tweet: ‘Life changing events give you a new outlook, a new peace, a new gentility, a different frame of mind…
‘BUT you’d have to run me over with a steamroller, several times, before I thought you’d get anywhere near £6-800 for this!!!’ alongside a screengrab from Antiques Roadshow.
A heartbreaking post on the same day read: ‘There’s a thin chance that a meteor will fly down, in the form of a guiding star, on Christmas Day and precisely hit the room that I’m in, in hospital. fingers crossed.’
He shared a throwback photo with his sister on December 23, writing that he was ‘thinking back to much happier times.’
His final X post was shared on December 29, as he criticised another episode of Antiques Roadshow: ‘Expert: I can see these date London in 1758. Well, he must’ve had a f**king time machine because they’ve got the date letter for 1762 struck on them. You can get away with this s**t when I’m dead, not before #AntiquesRoadshow.’
Outside of his Flog It! exploits, his career saw him work at auction house Christie’s while still a university student. And after studying for his degree, he led Sotheby’s southern silver department for four years before transitioning to a private consultant role.
He was also an accomplished author on the subject of silver, with An Illustrated Guide to York Hallmarks 1776 – 1858 among his published works.
Flog It! was a daytime television staple since it first hit screens back in 2002 and saw members of the public have their treasured possessions valued by a team of experts.
However, it was axed in 2018 to make room for six new commissions to ‘modernise’ the daytime schedule.
A year ago Michael was at the centre of a death hoax and was forced to reassure his fans that he was alive and well.
Posting on his official X, formerly Twitter, account, Michael reposted the fake death story about him, telling his followers: ‘The truth is it’s the ‘Vintage Specialist’ bit that really hurts… Not dead quite yet.’
