A 93-YEAR-OLD woman who was admitted to East Lothian Community Hospital because of a lack of home carers died alone after contracting Covid-19 in the hospital, her family have claimed.

Nan Tittman was receiving treatment for inoperable gall stones in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh when she signed consent forms to allow her to be sent home to Haddington and the house she shared with her eldest daughter.

But her family said difficulty getting carers in place led doctors to decide to instead send her to the new community hospital in her home town.

At the time, they say she had tested negative for the virus which allowed the transfer.

She died six days later with Covid-19 listed on her death certificate.

Daughter Carol, who lives in Prestonpans, said: “The last time I saw mum was in hospital in Edinburgh on Mother’s Day.

"The day before she died she managed to get a signal on her mobile phone and called to say she just wanted to come home.

"We repeatedly called asking to be allowed to see mum but were told no again and again.

"On the night she died we received a call to say two people could visit – 15 minutes later we had another call to say it was too late. She had gone.”

Nan, whose husband Klaus passed away in 2002, worked in Haddington throughout her life and was well known in the community.

She lived with daughter Dorothy, 68, on Carlyle Gardens and had two other daughters, Sylvia, 67, who also lives in Haddington, and Audrey, 65, who lives in Dalkeith.

After raising her four daughters she worked at Lemac, the Pheasant Hotel, the former King’s Arms Hotel and other local establishments in Haddington.

Carol, 60, said: “It was mainly kitchen work, honest work, and she was known by everyone.

“Mum was the kindest person I knew. She would offer people a lift in her car and do anything for anybody.

“She deserved better than what happened to her.”

Nan was admitted to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in late January and received regular visits from her daughters up until the coronavirus lockdown saw visits stopped the day after Mother’s Day, on March 23.

Desperate to return home, Nan signed consent forms to allow the transfer at the start of April; however, doctors instead transferred her to East Lothian Community Hospital on April 6.

She died on April 12.

As well as her daughters, Nan leaves behind grandchildren Stephen, 50, Mark, 41, Evie, 40, Kevin, 40 and Charlene 38 and great grandchildren Ryan, 21, Aidan, 14, Kieran, 12 and eight-year-old Leila.

Carol said: “Mum’s death certificate lists extreme frailty, pancreatic cancer and, at the bottom, it says Covid-19 three days.

“She tested negative when she was transferred from Edinburgh so must have got it there [at the community hospital].

“We are a very close family and the restrictions made it so hard in the end. Mum’s funeral was only 13 of us including her great grandchildren. It is difficult to accept what happened to her.”

Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director, NHS Lothian, said: “We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family at this difficult time.

“Due to patient confidentiality we are unable to comment on individual cases without patient consent, but would urge the family to contact the charge nurse or service manager at the hospital to discuss their concerns."