Hospital bosses have apologised after a watchdog found an elderly woman received sub-standard care prior to her death.

May Bone, a well-known piano and organ player from Distington, died in October 2014, aged 85.

The great grandmother had previously spent weeks in Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital, where she was left dehydrated, was not properly fed, and received inadequate personal care.

Her daughter Judy Bloxham, of Carlisle, was so appalled by the standard of care – which she believes caused her mum to effectively give up on life – that she took her complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which has now upheld most of her complaint.

It found failings in several areas and ordered North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust to make improvements and pay Mrs Bone’s family £1,000 compensation.

Mrs Bloxham, who also has a brother and sister living outside Cumbria, said her mum was a relatively fit, independent woman until April 2014 when she became ill and was admitted to the West Cumberland. She was readmitted about a week later after a fall at home, and Mrs Bloxham became concerned about the care she was receiving.

After her mum was discharged she complained to bosses about the lack of personal care, hygiene and poor communication with family members. “I feel the way mum was treated was verging on neglect,” she said.

However despite promising her mum – who went into residential care as a temporary measure – that she wouldn’t let her go back into the Whitehaven hospital, Mrs Bone was rushed in again after taking ill while her daughter was working away in August 2014.

The complaint investigated by the ombudsman related to this period, from August 28 until September 26, when Mrs Bone was waiting to be transferred to a community bed.

It concluded there were failings in several areas including basic recording keeping, which meant they could not properly determine the true impact of poor care, such as whether she was underweight, properly nourished or hydrated.

The ombudsman added: “We are persuaded that Mrs Bone was dehydrated. This was a service failure.”

It added: “There was clear evidence the drinking water was contaminated. On the balance of probabilities the dirty water meant it was more likely Mrs Bone did not drink as much as she should have.”

It also dealt with a complaint about personal care – including hair, nail and oral hygiene – and found failings, adding: “The trust’s failure to meet Mrs Bone’s personal hygiene needs compromised her dignity.”

Mrs Bone was eventually transferred to Workington hospital, where she later died. Mrs Bloxham believes that the poor care she received prior to that contributed to her death, claiming she “lost the will to live”.

The ombudsman ordered the trust to apologise to the family, pay compensation, acknowledge the identified failings, and explain what actions have been taken to prevent them reoccurring.

Mrs Bloxham has now had a letter of apology – though is upset that it wrongly refers to her mother as Mary. She now wants to meet with bosses to discuss the findings.

A spokeswoman, who said they would be inviting Mrs Bloxham for a face-to-face meeting, said: “The trust would like to reiterate our apology for the unacceptable level of care provided to her late mother. An action plan has been developed and distributed widely as a result of the concerns raised to ensure that learning is shared and acted upon in order to improve standards.

“We do hope this offers assurance to Mrs Bloxham that we have taken her concerns extremely seriously.”