A FORMER NHS nurse was left "trapped" at a care home instead of being able to move closer to her husband after her coronavirus test got lost in the post.
Marion Branton, 77, was unable to move to a nursing home closer to her family home in Malvern until the authorities could be sure she doesn’t still have Covid-19.
Her daughter Anna, from Stourport, blasted the testing process, branding it "terrible".
The special needs teacher, aged 52, said: "Hopefully it's third time lucky. They are using a private company to do the testing now
"They lost two tests. The first was sent by Royal Mail and never got to the hospital. It got lost in the post and was returned to sender.
"It hadn't even been opened when it came back to the home. I was really shocked.
"I thought they would use a courier service. It is terrible really.
"The first was on July 6 and she had a second a week later.
"It went to Worcestershire Royal Hospital by mistake who sent it to Heartlands in Birmingham.
"By the time we had found out what happened, it was too late and the test had been negated.
"She can't go to a drive-through test centre because she has dementia."
Marion was isolated in her room at Norton Hall near Worcester for 14 days and suffered with a fever for a few days before her symptoms subsided.
She moved into the care home before lockdown for a period of respite care, which should have lasted a couple of weeks.
But four months on, Marion was unable to transfer to Severn Heights nursing home, in Callow End, as she needs to have proof of a negative Covid-19 test before she can move to a a different care home.
Anna said: "There is nothing wrong with Norton Hall. The problem is the testing facility and the testing blunders.
"Both my mum and my dad are having to wait. She worked for the NHS for 40 years and has been let down.
"Her current home costs £1,400 a week, but this will be £800 a week and will be easier for dad to visit.
"I think the care homes have been lost and forgotten about in this coronavirus crisis."
A spokesman for Norton Hall confirmed Mrs Branton’s test did get lost once they submitted it and was somehow sent to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, instead of the Public Health England laboratory based at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital.
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Shelly Andon, operations director for Severn Heights, said: “We had previously tested our staff and residents as part of our routine testing and for some reason, we had swabs going missing in the post as well as Norton Hall.
“In a batch of 70 we sent for staff and patients for routine testing, seven disappeared - these people have since been retested and were found to be negative.
“Mr Branton wants his wife moved to this home and it’s dreadful that Mrs Branton’s test has been lost - I really sympathise.
“We feel let down by the whole testing system and it worries me.”
Mrs Branton was retested on Monday, July 13, and, if negative, will be allowed to move to Severn Heights nursing home.
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