Family devastated over hospital jewellery loss

Roberta McGahan wore her wedding ring and eternity ring for 66 years before they were lost after her death

A family said they were absolutely devastated after jewellery went missing at a hospital following a death.

Roberta McGahan died aged 87 at Worcestershire Royal Hospital on 1 January. Her children requested her wedding ring and eternity ring stay on her fingers until she was cremated.

Daughter-in-law Michelle McGahan said when the body arrived at the mortuary her rings were missing.

The hospital's chief nursing officer has since apologised to the family after staff were unable to find the missing items.

As well as the rings, which were in the family for more than six decades, two throws and a portable radio were also reported missing.

"The rings are irreplaceable, you can not put a price on them, you can not just throw someone a claim form," said Ms McGahan.

"What price can you put on a precious memento of someone's life."

Her father-in-law worked three jobs to save up to afford his wife's eternity ring, she said.

She added: "To know we will never see those rings again is just heart-breaking."

In a letter to the family chief nursing officer Sarah Shingler said a nurse had removed the rings and placed the items in a green bag within a safe box.

The throws were placed alongside the green bag but the radio was unaccounted for, the letter said.

Despite an extensive search of the ward all five items remain missing.

In a statement sent to the BBC, Ms Shingler said: "We are very sorry for the distress this has caused at what is already a difficult time.

“We have written to the family to explain in detail the findings of our internal investigation into the loss of their mother’s property.

"We’d like to once again unreservedly apologise for their experience and we have used this experience to improve our practices and reduce the likelihood of incidents like this happening again in future."

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]