AN American hospital is paying almost £2m to the children of a North-East woman who died after going missing while a patient.

The supervisors of San Fransisco General Hospital in California have confirmed the payment to the adult son and daughter of Lynne Spalding, 57, who hailed from east Durham, and had lived in the USA for several years.

She was found dead in a hospital stairwell 17 days after going missing while being treated for a urinary infection in 2013.

She was not found for so long despite searches by Sherrif’s Deputies.

The city of San Francisco and University of California officials agreed in December to pay her two adult children almost $3m and rubber-stamped the payment on Tuesday (January 27)

An autopsy found that Ms Spalding died of dehydration and liver problems related to alcoholism.

Investigations into what went wrong found communication failures between the hospital and the sheriff's deputies.

A sheriff's department dispatcher has been fired.

Two other sheriff's employees were suspended and five others disciplined.

The coroner said that Ms Spalding died of dehydration and liver failure related to alcoholism.

The coroner said she had died several days before she was found, but could not determine an exact time of death.

Haig Harris, the family's lawyer, said Ms Spalding's 20-year-old son and 24-year-old daughter would share the settlement.

"No amount of money will bring back the mother of these two children,'' he said.

Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, said the settlement was fair.

"We are glad we were able to resolve it without the costs, risk and heartache of litigation,'' he added.