A devastated son has told how he was "robbed" of the chance to say goodbye to his mum because the hospital never told her family that her condition had deteriorated.
Darren Chambers, from Louth, Lincolnshire, lost his mum Margaret, 79, in December last year whilst she was in Diana Princess of Wales Hospital after suffering a fall at home and a bleed on the brain.
And a week later she passed away without her family getting the chance to say their final words to her, reported GrimsbyLive.
Darren, 48, claims that hospital staff were to blame for the way she died.
"My mum fell over at our home in Louth and eventually ended up being admitted to Grimsby hospital to be checked for a bleed on the brain. A couple of days after she went in, I took her some clothes to see she was laid flat on her back, something she'd never done throughout her whole life," he said.
"Immediately, I felt a little worried about her."
He then alleged that the following day he was told by a nurse his mum was going in for an X-ray but she couldn't give the reason for it and following that he and his sister were told their mother would be home the next day, Friday, December 3.
They had been told that her results showed signs of recovery, only to be then contacted again to say that they had given out the wrong results from another patient, and that their mum couldn't come home.
"It was a bit of a blow really. We'd got ourselves excited to think mum was coming out and then we were told they made a mistake and she wouldn't be," he said.
At about 6am on Friday morning, Darren said he got a call from his sister saying they needed to go to the hospital, but were told not to rush.
But tragically after arriving at the hospital, his sister informed Darren that their mother had passed away.
He said: "I didn't get to say goodbye and she had no-one there with her when she died. The whole process was so stressful and upsetting.
"We were told she might have swallowed something, but on the death certificate it said she'd had a heart attack."
A couple of weeks ago, Darren had a meeting with the consultants, doctors and nurses who were involved with his mum's care, but said it raised more questions than answers.
Darren said: "We were told stuff we never knew. They told us she had a fever, but then they put two blankets on her. In my opinion, I just don't think that's right."
He added: "We were told she began deteriorating at 2:30am on the day she died too, but yet nobody called us to get there.
"You would've thought they would have rung us to come say goodbye, just so we could hold her hand before she went. The whole process has just been so up and down. I was so close to mum and the fact she's gone is devastating.
"I still feel like we have no idea how she actually died. At this point, I just wish we'd never taken her to the hospital. I just feel lied to and the whole thing has stressed us all immensely.
"We were robbed of our last moments with our mum because nobody thought to call us. It's just awful and such a tragic situation, the whole thing has been so hard and it's ruined our lives."
In response to these claims, the hospital told GrimsbyLive: "Once again, we would like to take this opportunity to offer our condolences to Mr Chambers on the death of his mother. While we are unable to share details around the specifics of his complaint due to patient confidentiality, the clinicians involved in his mother’s care and our complaints team have been working closely with him to address the concerns raised.
"We are sorry he does not feel that his concerns have been resolved to his full satisfaction at this point, and if Mr Chambers wishes to contact the complaints team, they would be happy to explore with him what further assistance can be offered."
The Mirror contacted Diana Princess of Wales Hospital for comment.
