Family hits out at council after pensioner, 81, starves to death

 
Josh Loeb11 February 2013

The family of a pensioner who starved to death after her care agency was closed today accused the local council of “shedding responsibility”.

Gloria Foster, 81, died last week after Carefirst24 was shut by the UK Border Agency for allegedly employing illegal immigrants. Police now say they told Surrey county council about the closure and passed on a list of the agency’s clients and their contact details.

But documents show the last visit to Mrs Foster by a Carefirst24 worker was on January 15, suggesting the council subsequently forgot about her.

Her late husband’s brother-in-law Tony De-Keyzer, 84, said the case as “astonishing ... there needs to be an investigation to find out what went wrong, and if there’s any particular individual responsible, they need to answer for it. The whole idea of farming out for care to a private firm is wrong in principle.”

Mrs Foster, of Banstead, was found severely dehydrated with bed sores and kidney failure on January 24. She was taken to hospital but died 11 days later.

A Surrey council spokesman said: “This is now the subject of a police investigation. We will co-operate fully.”

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