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More on KentOnline
A bereaved widow who suffers from Alzheimer’s was left distressed and confused after coroners’ staff called her regarding her husband’s death.
Stuart Heaver had asked that no one contact his 83-year-old mother Jean regarding a planned inquest after his father, Fred, died at Darent Valley Hospital in September.
But he was incensed after he found his mother in a distressed state at her home in Longfield, having received a call earlier that day, and is now calling on coroners to review their procedures.
The Kent coroners’ office said it was sorry Mrs Heaver had been upset but the message not to contact her came three hours too late.
Mr Heaver, 56, said: “I came over that afternoon and my mother was extremely upset. She was distraught, anxious and confused.”
He called the coroners’ office to complain.
He said. “I explained what had happened and really expected her to say ‘gosh I’m sorry’, but she said ‘the documentation says this is the next of kin’.
“I said ‘I’m getting the feeling you’re not apologising’.
“I’m not expecting a counselling service but I’d expect a bit of empathy.”
A further email to the office requesting an apology was met with a response from Peter Sheehan, coroners’ office manager, stating: “I am sorry to see that you have felt the need to register your concerns with us in relation to the death of your father”, and explaining the information regarding the next of kin had come from Darent Valley Hospital.
“That’s not an apology, it’s an insult,” said Mr Heaver.
“I’ve never been through this minefield – I didn’t know you now have to make an appointment at your local library to register a death.
“I’m just astonished at what’s going on. This is a basic need in society – the need to bury the dead – and it’s a farce.
“The system needs completely overhauling. You can’t put vulnerable people through a process like this, which is dysfunctional.”
KCC said: “We are naturally sorry for the way Mrs Heaver came to be troubled with this issue.
“However, our Coroners’ Service staff acted in good faith after receiving information from the hospital concerning Mr Heaver’s death.
"My mother was extremely upset. She was distraught, anxious and confused" - Stuart Heaver
“The next of kin was shown as Mrs Heaver and we contacted her, as is our normal practice, at 9.30 the following morning.
“We subsequently received an email from the hospital nearly three hours later, stating that their clinical team had heard from the family who had asked that Mrs Heaver was not contacted as she suffers dementia and that both sons would be happy to be the family link.
“We immediately updated our records accordingly.
“When her son rang the service to complain that his mother had been contacted, our officer was not in a position to apologise for having done so because she had not made an error and had acted in good faith on the information available to her at the time, which had been provided by the hospital the day before.
“We deny that she was in any way rude or lacked compassion in her conversation with Mr Heaver, who was understandably distressed at the situation.
“Our staff are trained on the appropriate way to speak with bereaved families, which they need to do on a regular basis.
“We would like to pass on our condolences at this difficult time to Mr Heaver and the other members of his family.
“An inquest has been listed for 12.30pm on December 6 at the Archbishops’ Palace, Maidstone, and we are waiting for the relevant reports to come in.
“The next of kin has been notified of the date, time and place of the inquest.”
