A DAUGHTER has criticised the care of her 98-year-old mother after she was discharged from hospital and taken by mistake to a nursing home in Lancaster – instead of the one where she lives in Wilsden.

Veronica Balmforth says her mum Vera Taylor was taken on a more than four-hour journey by taxi to the Lancashire city and back in hot weather rather than on a 20-minute trip to the proper address.

The confusion may have arisen because the Lancaster care home has the same name - Laurel Bank - as the Wilsden one.

She said: “I don’t know what’s gone on. You couldn’t make it up.”

Mrs Taylor had been admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary following a fall and she was found to be bleeding from her head during a night check.

Mrs Balmforth said the home made contact with her to inform her of what was happening and when she had been taken to hospital.

At about 1pm on the Tuesday, she made contact with the home to be told that her mother was being discharged, after having an MRI scan and fall assessment, and was awaiting transport back to the home.

“At 1840 hrs I was told she had arrived back at the home, having been taken to Laurel Bank Nursing Home in Lancaster by taxi and then brought back to Wilsden,” she said.

“I find this appalling.

“At 98 years of age with undiagnosed dementia, with probably no idea what was happening, on what probably had been the hottest day of the year with no access to fluids or toilets, my mother has been subjected to over four hours plus of being driven around Lancashire.

“Why would someone think that a BRI patient would be discharged to Lancaster?”

Chief Nurse at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Karen Dawber, said: “We would like to sincerely apologise for the distress caused to the patient and her family by this incident.

“The approved patient transport provider used in this instance was given the correct postcode for the patient’s place of residence and they have apologised for making an error.

“We have liaised with the company to urgently investigate the circumstances surrounding this journey and have contacted the patient’s family to explain what happened.”