HOSPITAL bosses are investigating claims a necklace was stolen from a 91-year-old patient’s neck as she lay in a coma the night before her death.

Gladys Tulloch, from Wickford, was rushed to A&E after breaking her ribs in a fall at home.

She was sent home but returned to Basildon Hospital the following day- on Saturday, July 9- when her daughter, Margaret Leeks, noticed she was struggling to breathe.

Mrs Tulloch was diagnosed with pneumonia and given a bed on the William Harvey ward, where she fell into a coma.

Her family told the Echo they were devastated when they visited ten days into her stay and found her cherished chain necklace with a cross had been removed from her neck.

Granddaughter, Lisa Smith, 46, from Langdon Hills, said: “It was bought for her by her best friend a little while ago.

“She always wore it and wanted to wear it when she died. I don’t know how much it cost, but it had a diamond in it.

“It was really sentimental to her.”

She added that Mrs Tulloch was staying in a side ward which was not visited by many people.

Mrs Smith said she is “gutted” at the thought of someone sitting her grandmother up while she was in a coma to remove the necklace.

She said: “We are gutted. It is absolutely shocking that this happened.

“It was terrible to get there and see that this had happened.

“She was unable to do anything about it as she was in a coma. To take from a dying woman is the lowest of the low. It is disgraceful.

“It is bad enough to take from someone elderly, let alone one who is dying.

“You should be able to trust people in a hospital.”

Gladys died the day after the necklace went missing.

It has not been found since.

Mrs Smith added that her grandmother was a “very kind and giving person.”

She said: “Everyone loved my nan. She always had a good word to say about everyone.”

Mrs Leeks added: “She should have been made as comfortable as possible in her last few hours.

“Instead, her necklace, which she wanted to die with, was stolen from her neck. It is bad enough what happened, but to do this on her death bed is disgraceful.”

The family immediately reported the theft to the hospital, and have been told that the claim is being investigated.

A spokesman for Basildon Hospital said: “We are aware that a theft allegation has been made by the family of a patient in our hospital.

“We take the security of our patients and their possessions very seriously and are working to establish what happened.

“We are providing regular updates to the family.”