SOME may find it astonishing that an elderly woman can “go missing” at a social services day centre, only to be found hours later dead in a toilet having suffered a heart attack.

This is precisely what happened to an 89-year-old widow at the Lymington Road centre in Highcliffe.

Incredibly, she was not seen again after going to the lavatory after lunch, until 8pm that same evening and then only when a cleaner raised the alarm because of the locked door.

Bosses at Dorset County Council say they are aghast about the incident and have apologised to the lady’s family. A spokesman said that an investigation is being carried out and procedures reviewed.

This is the usual bureaucratic whitewash for the fact that the council failed in its duty of care to this lady.

The fact that the day centre is a busy one and looks after a large number of elderly people should not detract from the fact that she and her family were let down badly.

Dorset County Council, as you may have read in this paper, is looking at charging for the use of all its day centres, with some people possibly paying up to £22 a day.

You only hope that for that money, users might expect to get the basics of care and not end their life in a toilet and forgotten about because everyone has locked up and gone home.