A GRIEVING woman says hospital staff denied her the chance to say goodbye to her sick mother in a row over visiting hours.

Dawn Tinkler, 39, made the 100-mile trip from Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, to the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham, to see mother Gladys Henderson, 83, who was admitted with a chest infection.

She visited her mother on Saturday, May 15, but had to return to Wakefield to oversee the sale of her home the next day.

On the Sunday, Ms Tinkler returned to the hospital, but said she was asked to leave by staff because it was two hours before the official visiting time.

She said she could not stay because she had to return to Wakefield, but said staff asked her to leave.

On the Monday, her mother was discharged from hospital, but died unexpectedly a day later at the Stoneleigh Care Centre, Annfield Plain, County Durham.

Ms Tinkler said: "I had just got a chair and sat down with her for ten minutes. One of the nurses did not say anything but another came in asking if I realised it was not the official visiting time.

"That left me really upset. I asked if there was somebody I could complain to, but I was told there was nobody on Sunday and it would have to wait until Monday. I left the hospital in floods of tears."

Ms Tinkler has complained to the hospital both about being asked to leave and the care her mother received.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "The trust deeply regrets the upset caused to Ms Tinkler when she visited her mother.

"We have listened to the concerns she has raised and asked the ward to address them."