Health chiefs have come under fire after a letter was sent to the dead husband of a stroke victim.

Lesley Botterill suffered a stroke on July 10 and went to Worcestershire Royal Hospital where she is believed to have had a further stroke. She was then transferred to Evesham where she is still under 24-hour care from nurses as she continues her recovery.

While she was in hospital her son David picked up the post from her home and discovered a letter from the Worcestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT) addressed to his father, who died two years ago.

The letter was to inform Mrs Botterill that after undergoing an assessment, she would not be receiving assistance as part of the ‘continuing NHS healthcare’ provision, which is given to people who have great difficulty looking after themselves.

Mrs Botterill’s daughter Alison Stevenson said: “The PCT addressed the letter to my father, who has been dead for two years and only referred to my mother as ‘re your wife’.

“She would have been devastated. As a family we are all extremely upset. It does not give us confidence in the PCT if they cannot even get a patient’s personal details correct.

“My mother suffered a serious right-side stroke affecting that side of her body and her face. She has also lost her cognitive skills such as speech so she cannot communicate and that obviously makes her very vulnerable.

“We did not think that we would get the healthcare assistance as it is very rare that people do. But I would have thought she should qualify as she cannot walk, talk or really do anything for herself.”

A PCT spokesman said: “We apologise most sincerely for the error and for the obvious upset that has been caused to the family.

“The PCT is looking into the circumstances as to how this happened and will be contacting the family directly.”