Battered and bruised , this is how 95-year-old Monica Bridle spent her last days . She could be mistaken for a victim of a mugging or a car crash . But the vicious purple welts , spreading from her cheekbones to her forehead , were not caused by any collision or assault . The pensioner , mother to a large loving family , had simply been tipped out of her bed by a bungling healthcare assistant at Southampton General Hospital . Incredibly , the hospital did not even think to tell Mrs Bridle ’ s family . Her daughter only found out when she visited her mother the next day . Monica Bridle , 95 ( pictured ) spent her last days alive covered in purple bruises across her cheeks and forehead after being tipped out of her bed by a bungling healthcare assistant at Southampton General Hospital . This shocking incident , a damning example of the problems at the heart of our health service , is revealed in a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman . An agency worker attempted to change Mrs Bridle ’ s sheets without moving her – knocking her down the gap between the bed and the wall . And when nurses put Mrs Bridle back in her bed , they thought so little of the incident that they did not bother telling her family . The ombudsman found that the University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust , which was in charge of Mrs Bridle ’ s care in the spring of 2013 , had not followed proper procedures during the incident , or in the hours afterwards . At least two workers should have helped move her , the incident should have been properly logged , and her relatives should have been informed . Mrs Bridle , whose family includes three children , six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren , died five days after the accident . She had been battling pneumonia for six weeks and her death was not linked to the accident . Mrs Bridle ( pictured ) had been battling pneumonia for six weeks and her death was not linked to the accident , but her large family are furious at the lack of respect with which she was treated in her final days . But her large family are still furious at the lack of respect with which she was treated in her final days . Her daughter Maureen Wylie , 60 , did not hear about the accident until she visited her mother the next day at her nursing home . Mrs Bridle had been discharged back to the home without the family being told , and there had been no mention of the accident . Mrs Wylie , who still gets flashbacks of her mother ’ s battered face two years later , decided to speak to the Daily Mail in an attempt to stop similar incidents happening to others . ‘ I feel so numb and angry , ’ she said . ‘ Those horrible bruises are my enduring memory of her death . ‘ I remember very clearly seeing her face like that for the first time . I stood there shaking . I thought , what on earth have they done to her ? ’ The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found the University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust had not followed proper procedures over the incident at Southampton General Hospital ( pictured ) Mrs Bridle was fiercely independent , a keen gardener and loving grandmother . She had worked with her late husband Charles at an insurance firm in Hampshire . After his death she had lived by herself in Lyndhurst , in the New Forest , only moving into a nursing home when her eyesight failed the year before her death . Health ombudsman Julie Mellor said : ‘ This story shows the importance of following clearly laid care plans . It also highlights the effect poor communication in the health service can have on people. ’ Judy Gillow of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust , said : ‘ We have unreservedly apologised to the family . In addition to intensive retraining and monitoring , we have introduced an electronic system for reporting falls and implemented much more stringent processes for communication with relatives . ’
Monica Bridle was treated at Southampton General Hospital for pneumonia . She fell between bed and wall when agency worker tried to change sheets . But staff did not log incident or inform her family - she died five days later . Comment: Daughter Maureen said : 'Those horrible bruises are my enduring memory of her death '