Elderly woman taken to wrong home by hospital staff – and left in strangers bed

An elderly woman found herself confused and alone in a stranger's bed after hospital staff took her to the wrong home.

Joyce Wright, 83, had been discharged incorrectly from Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, following a hip operation and was taken to the wrong home, 40 miles away from her Sleaford home. Her accidental transit was due to a hospital slip up.

Health workers had opened a key safe to be used on discharging another patient, but crossed wires led to the accidental removal and subsequent blunder which left the 83-year-old in a random home in Skegness.

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Joyce's son, Andy, 55, did not even know his mum had been moved to a home which was not her own. Andy only found out the next day when relatives of the other patient found Joyce in their loved one's home.

Speaking to the BBC, Andy said: "It was dark and my mum was on pain relief, on morphine, so obviously things were a bit confusing for her. She didn’t quite realise [where she was] at that particular time and obviously she was quite drowsy."

He has since blasted the "absolutely shocking" mix-up, which at the time he feared could have been a lot worse. Andy feared what could happen if his mum had been given the wrong medication and was left "very, very angry", he said to The Sun.

"It is unbelievable. What if they gave my mum the wrong medication? I thought patients wear wristbands so this can’t happen," he said. Andy was left fuming over the "epic error", though his mum is thankfully back at the right home.

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When told of their error, staff members rushed to return Joyce to her own home, where she is now resting and in "good spirits". There was a silver lining to the "epic error", with Andy saying his mum found the stranger's bed "comfy".

A spokesperson from United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust and East Midlands Ambulance Service said: ‘We have spoken with both patients and their families to offer our heartfelt and sincere apologies.

"This clearly falls below the standard of care we want to deliver. A review is underway to ensure it does not happen again." An investigation from the trust has since been launched.

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