THE daughter of a Teignmouth man who died at Torbay hospital says she is distraught after his personal belongings were lost.
Joseph Dyer, 85, died on February 8, seven days after being admitted to the hospital with stomach problems. He was admitted to the A and E and later to intensive care, but no record of the belongings he brought with him was ever made. Clothing, toiletries and wallet are among the items that have yet to be recovered. His watch was returned to the family. Mr Dyer's 95-year-old widow Daisy was upset that her husband's possessions were never returned. They had been married for 65 years. Mrs Dyer passed away last Wednesday at Dawlish Hospital. Daughter Jean Rudkin said: 'To have had those little bits and pieces returned would have meant an awful lot to mum and to me. We don't know whether he had any precious photographs in his wallet that we may have wanted to keep. 'It has been traumatic, especially at a difficult time, and it could have been avoided if someone had done their job properly. The hospital does have a procedure of recorded possessions. But this was not carried out in this instance, said Torbay Hospital chief executive Tony Parr. Mr Parr said: 'We have reminded staff of the procedures in place for recording belongings. 'It was a case of human error in this instance. We have no record of the belongings and we accept entirely that we must have missed recording them. 'We have made an absolute and thorough search and we do have a lost property department, but there is no indication of where the belongings might be. 'I have every sympathy with Mrs Rudkin and apologise for the distress this has caused,' said Mr Parr. He added that compensation would be offered to Mrs Rudkin in recognition of the distress caused to the family.