A grieving Staffordshire family were horrified when the personal belongings of a recently-deceased relative were found soiled when sent to them by Stafford Hospital.

Senior hospital staff have apologised to the Penn family for sending them the soiled belongings of 66-year-old Eleanor Barrett, who died at Stafford Hospital in April, in a “breach of trust policy.”

Mrs Barrett’s daughter Paula Penn, of Field Lane, Great Wyrley, was with several family members when she made the discovery.

She has twice met with Antony Sumara, the chief executive of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, to discuss concerns about the standard of care her mother received. Mr Sumara has acknowledged “deficiencies in treatment.”

Mrs Barrett was admitted to the hospital on April 6, suffering problems with her toes. She died unexpectedly, of natural causes, around 24 hours later.

The family claim she was the victim of under-staffing; that she was allowed to fall to the floor after the cot-sides of the bed were left down for her to go to the toilet and that she received insufficient oxygen levels for her emphysema.

They claim she was not given the right doses of her medication, nor checked regularly enough by nurses.

Mrs Penn had been her mother’s main carer and the family had extended the home to make her more comfortable.

She said: “If my mom was looked after in hospital as she should have been the chances are higher that she would not have died.”

Mrs Penn added that the wrong personal belongings were initially sent to the family, and that when the correct items did arrive they were in a state.

Antony Sumara said: “I was shocked to hear about this family’s experiences. I offer our unreserved apologies for the deficiencies in treatment and the subsequent breach of trust policy when Mrs Barrett’s belongings were returned.

“We have carried out an investigation  and I met for a second time with Mrs Penn on Friday afternoon.”

The coalition government announced this month that there will be a full public inquiry into standards of care said to have caused hundreds of needless deaths at the hospital.