Hospital wrongly told family that patient had died

A hospital wrongly told the family of a stroke patient that she had died, it was revealed today.

Dorothy Noon, 80, was recovering from a stroke at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, in Lancashire, when hospital staff phoned her daughter to tell her she was dead.

Great-grandmother Mrs Noon collapsed while walking her dog to a local shop on 12 January and was admitted to the hospital's stroke unit.

The Royal Lancaster Infirmary phoned her daughter Susie Dennison six days later to wrongly inform her that her mother had died.

The hospital has since apologised to the family and said an internal investigation will be launched.

Jackie Holt, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust's director of nursing, said: "We're so sorry to have upset this family.

"Whenever a relative is in hospital, it is a worrying time and our staff feel terrible that a human error has caused greater distress.

"We have met with the family and will share the findings of our internal investigation with them once it is complete.

"If there are any other concerns they wish to raise with us, we are happy to discuss these directly with them."