Woman ‘kept away from dying mother’ in care home

A council and NHS trust have been criticised after they were found to have wrongly kept a woman from seeing her dying mother.

The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, was estranged from her mother but decided to visit her when she was ill and in a West Yorkshire care home.

Staff prevented the visit because they said it might upset the elderly woman.

Leeds City Council and Leeds Community Healthcare Trust have agreed to apologise and pay £5,000 compensation.

It comes after criticism from the Local Government Ombudsman.

‘Errors and misjudgements’

In her report, the ombudsman Anne Seex said they deprived the woman, referred to as Mrs B, “of the opportunity to speak with her mother before they were separated forever by death”.

She said Ms B was “made to hand over a Christmas gift outside the home and made to wait for over a month for the council’s processes before finally being told that she could see her mother”.

The report said by the time the council assessment was done and Ms B was told she could visit, her mother had had a stroke and was unable to recognise or communicate with her. She died the next day.

Sandie Keene, director of adult social services at the council, said: “The ombudsman’s report describes a standard that, on this occasion, fell well below what the council expects when dealing with such a sensitive situation.”

She said a review of the council’s practices had found an “isolated series of errors and misjudgements” and it had “learned a number of important lessons in communication, training and management”.

“We accept the findings in the report and its recommendations in full,” Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS trust, said.

“I am reassured that the ombudsman recognises that we acted quickly to make improvements and deal with the issues raised.”