Bereavement blunder shocks family

A rest home rang family about funeral arrangements for their elderly mother without first telling them she was dead.

Auckland couple Michael and Gail Kerwin were telephoned by a nurse at Westmere's Lynton Lodge rest home to ask who should be contacted for the funeral arrangements for Mr Kerwin's 88-year-old mother, Jessie Marjorie (Marge) Kerwin.

But they didn't tell Mr Kerwin his mother had died.

Granddaughter TraciKerwin said: "Dad asked, 'Why? Has my mother died?'

"He is shocked, it's no way to find out your parent has died. They obviously wanted her removed, they wanted a funeral director to come and get her."

Ms Kerwin, who lives in Tauranga, said her father got the call about 8.20am yet her grandmother died at 5.30am. When she learned what had happened, Ms Kerwin rang the rest home and asked why it had taken so long to get in touch and why it hadn't given the family the opportunity to be with Mrs Kerwin immediately after she died.

"I rang up and spoke to the owner ... she said it slipped her mind, that there was a lot going on."

Lynton Lodge director Dorinda Brown-Douglas said the call was made about 7am, a "normal" time to contact a family whose relation died in the night, and the nurse who made the mistake was "devastated".

"She is an experienced registered nurse.

"I think it was an absolute slip of the tongue, the wrong information came out first." The nurse had immediately apologised and had met the family at the door when they arrived, as did senior staff members.

"The nurse and management deeply and sincerely regret the way the family were informed," Ms Brown-Douglas said. "It was just terrible to hear of the death of a loved one like that."