HAVING read the letters printed recently in your newspaper regarding the very poor standard of care at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, I realise my family's experience a year ago was in no way an isolated case.

Like Shirley Noble's husband, my 87-year-old mother was admitted to the hospital on December 28, 2004. She went in for tests but never came out again as she died on January 12, 2005.

While her condition was such that she could not have made a recovery, my sister and I would have expected that our mother could at least have been made comfortable during her last days, but this was far from the case.

We stayed on the ward to help her with eating, drinking and using the toilet etc as much as we were allowed, because she was too weak to help herself. Other patients told us she received little help when we weren't there, even when she requested it. The fact that she was mentally very alert meant she felt degraded and soon became demoralised and gave up the will to go on though this was far from the case when she was admitted.

We made a formal complaint to the hospital soon after our mother died but our concerns were not addressed adequately. We therefore forwarded the details to the Healthcare Commission for an independent review. It has, as yet, been unable to deal with our case as it is inundated with similar requests.

Had we known what conditions were like in the hospital then we would certainly not have allowed our dear mother to be admitted; we could have cared for her far better at home as we had been doing for some time.

SHEILA ASHWELL, Newtown Abbot, Devon.