Two hours after a coroner ruled that the death of a pensioner left to starve for nine days was a "grave indictment of the service or lack of service provided" by Surrey Council Council, it has released a three line statement.

Gloria Foster, 81, from Banstead, was left without vital carer visits after the care agency Care1st24, in Sutton, was shut down following an immigration raid by police in January last year.

In his verdict at Woking Coroners' Court this afternoon Coroner Richard Travers said a "gross failure" to provide her with basic care had contributed "in a material way" to her death.

The coroner said he would raise important points with the chief executive of Surrey County Council and what happened was a "grave indictment of the service or lack of service provided".

In response a council spokesman has released a statement saying: "We would again like to say how sorry we are for our failure to help Gloria Foster get the support she needed. We should have done more and we completely accept that.

"While we have already made changes following this dreadful case we'll continue to do all we can to prevent anything like this happening again."

Last week, at the coroner’s court social worker Elizabeth Egan admitted she had "failed" the pensioner by not following up an unanswered call she said she made to Mrs Foster to inform her of the raid.

Mrs Egan said she had been suffering from depression and burn-out, could not cope with her workload and wrongly believed that, as a self-funder, Mrs Foster could make her own alternative care arrangements.

The coroner concluded that Gloria Foster died from "natural causes contributed to by neglect".

Mrs Foster's friend Ann Penston said today she has no "animosity" towards the social worker but called on the council to learn from this tragedy and accept responsibility for what went wrong.

Ms Penston said: "I think the coroner was very clear in his summary that Surrey County Council, through their neglect, had very greatly contributed to her death."

Mr Travers said he would be writing to the chief executive of SCC with regards to:

  • the need to have a protocol for additional support for staff when such a closure of a care agency arises
  • the need for additional, specific training to reinforce to staff not to take a different attitude to self-funders
  • the need for additional, specific training so there is a clear understanding of the team leader of support and delegation of tasks
  • when there is such a closure of a care agency, the need for there to be clear lines of communication with that provider to ensure the bodies involved are immediately informed of the current situation

Are you satisfied by Surrey County Council’s response? Leave a comment below.