Apology after woman wrongly prevented from seeing dying mother

The daughter, identified only as Ms B, was banned from seeing her mother from mid-December 2008 to early February 2009, the Local Government Ombudsman found.

On one occasion, she was made to stand outside the home and hand a Christmas gift for her mother to staff at the entrance.

By the time she was given access, her mother had suffered a stroke and was unable to recognise her. She died the next day.

Ombudsman Anne Seex criticised Leeds Council for depriving Ms B “of the opportunity to speak with her mother before they were separated forever by death”.

Finding “maladministration causing injustice”, Ms Seex recommended that the council make a full written apology and pay £5,000 for her distress.

The placement of Ms B’s mother in the home was arranged by staff from the council and Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

The council’s director of adult social services, Sandie Keene, said the ombudsman’s report described a standard that “fell well below what the council expects”.

“Immediately after the events, we commissioned an independent review of our safeguarding practice,” she said. “This discovered that this was an isolated series of errors and misjudgments, which was not the result of fundamentally flawed policy within our joint care services.”

Trust chief executive Rob Webster said: “We are deeply sorry for the distress caused.

“We accept the findings in the report and its recommendations in full.”