A REPORT into the death of a widow has determined that serious mistakes were made by Surrey social workers.
The serious case review, which was ordered after the death of Gloria Foster, 81, was published today and highlighted a number of failings by workers after her care provider was closed down in a Border Agency raid.
Ms Foster, from Banstead, died after she was left alone for nine days when Surrey County Council failed to realise they had become responsible for her care when her current care provider, Carefirst24, was shut down.
At the time, Surrey Police said no criminal charges would be brought in the wake of her death and it has taken the Surrey Safeguarding Adults board seven months to publish their findings.
The report states that "a serious mistake seems an inadequate description of what happened. But leaving aside all the 'what ifs', that is exactly what happened."
Commenting on the report, which details the circumstances surrounding the closure of Carefirst24 and the circumstances of Ms Foster's death, Simon Turpitt
Independent Chair of the Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board, said: "One of the important things to remember is that this is about an individual and the circumstances surrounding an incident which left them without care for several days when they were vulnerable. Whilst we talk a lot about process always at the forefront of this review, is that it is about Gloria Foster.
"The report lays out the circumstances which led to the situation around the loss of care and the areas where the agencies involved could learn from this case and how we are recommending to the Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board to implement actions across agencies to improve working and safeguard adults at risk. They will be accountable to do this to their stakeholders.
"It is up to individual organizations to follow through proper process any disciplinary action deemed appropriate. It is not the job of the panel to do this.
"There are certainly lessons to be learned here and by implementing the actions recommended, we are looking to ensure the circumstances which caused Mrs. Foster to be without care for several days can be prevented from happening again."
