Woman, 62, left stunned as she arrives for hospital scan only to be told ‘she’s already dead’

A woman was shocked when she arrived at hospital for a scan only to be told by staff that “she’s already dead”.

Susan Johnson, 62, from Scarborough, was told by staff at Bridlington Hospital that according to their records, she had been dead for four months.

The error resulted in her care allowance for her husband Bob stopping, however, this has since been fixed.

Johnson, a retired housekeeper, told the BBC: “I gave them my letter and their first words were, “ooh you’re dead.”

“I said, ‘pardon?’ I was in shock.

“Then they put something on the computer so I could have the scan and then they just said, ‘bye’ and that’s it.”

Despite being allowed to have the appointment, she said the whole ordeal left her “shaking like a leaf”.

Johnson then spoke to her GP about the error who told her that it had now been sorted.

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However, she later contacted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to discuss the allowance, who informed her that she was still listed as dead on their records.

Whilst her benefits have since been reinstated, the 62-year-old is still confused as to how the mistake happened in the first place.

Scarborough Medical Group, her GP, told the broadcaster that they received an electronic instruction about the “death” from Primary Care Support England (PCSE).

However, PCSE said marking patients as dead is the responsibility of the GP. Meanwhile, NHS England also said they do not notify the DWP of a death.

An NHS spokesperson said: “We are aware of an issue involving a civil death registration being incorrectly recorded against a patient’s medical record.

“This was removed within 24 hours of it being reported to us in March 2023 and the patient was re-registered by their GP.

“We would encourage the patient to contact us directly so we can explain further.”