One of the county’s biggest hospitals has apologised after jewellery went missing from an elderly patient who passed away.

Iris Phillips died in Darent Valley, Dartford, in April surrounded by her close-knit family.

The 91-year-old’s daughter, Anne Challis, says their grief was made worse when they later realised the precious family heirlooms had vanished.

The Wilmington resident had been asking for an explanation from hospital staff for the past three months.

But it was only this week when KentOnline made contact that bosses admitted the correct procedures hadn’t been followed and the property was lost.

Mrs Phillips had been admitted to hospital after a fall but had gradually deteriorated and within a week her family were told to say their goodbyes.

Anne, 69, said her loved ones gathered around her bedside but her daughter was unable to get there from Milton Keynes and was distraught she would not be there in her grandma’s final moments.

She said: “I took a picture so my daughter would see she was not in any pain and looked peaceful.”

In the image, Mrs Phillips can be seen wearing her bracelet, watch and three rings on each ring finger, which Anne says “she never took off”.

She said: “The only time she removed them was when she lost a lot of weight towards the end and we suggested she get them re-sized.”

Anne says she had taken her mum’s golden locket home days earlier as it was getting in the way of the wires.

But she said she would never have considered taking the rings, which were Indian heirlooms embedded with rubies from the country’s mines, off her mum’s fingers.

It is uncertain at what stage the jewellery was removed and what the circumstances were but Anne fears they might have been stolen.

Anne added: “As she was dying I could not have taken them off her as if she was aware she would have been distraught that someone was taking them, even if she knew it was me.

“They were just so precious to her.”

She does not believe they could have fallen off and worries “somebody has helped themselves to them”, although she has no idea who or when.

“If that is the case, you would not have done that to someone who is dying,” she added. “That to me is the lowest of the low.”

Anne says when she left her mum she knew she would not last the night but had promised her she wouldn’t be there to see her die.

She was called by the hospital just half an hour after she left to say Mrs Phillips had passed away.

In the morning the mortuary called to ask if the family wanted to see the body and collect her jewellery, which they described as one earring and three rings.

Anne says she immediately corrected them but was told that was all her mum was wearing.

She had been battling for answers since April and now wants to warn others to be wary.

She added: “I would hate it to happen to someone else. If I knew they were going to be lost or taken I would have prised them off her fingers myself.

“The thought that someone might have taken them from her dead body is awful; at least I hope she was dead. If she was aware, that would be even worse.”

She added: “I know we are never going to get them back. I just don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has apologised to the family for the stress caused and accepted it “didn’t get it right in this instance”.

A spokesman said: “We have investigated this loss as an incident and determined that the correct documentation procedures were not properly followed, resulting in an inability to locate the missing items.”

The trust said it has since “reinforced the importance of accurately completing a patient’s property list upon admission”.

Responding to this, Anne said she was still upset by what had happened but was glad the trust had acknowledged the situation, saying it had brought her “closure”.