A bewildered woman attended a scan at the hospital and was told by staff she had already died.
Susan Johnson, from Scarborough, was left “shaking for a leaf” after staff at Bridlington Hospital in Yorkshire told her her records showed she had been dead for four months.
Susan, 62, a retired housekeeper, was fortunately still able to have the scan, but her husband Bob needed to bring her a strong coffee to help calm her nerves.
The mother of two said bbc news: ‘I gave them my letter and their first words were: “ooh, you’re dead.”
‘I said, “Excuse me?” I was shocked.
Susan Johnson (pictured) from Scarborough was left ‘shaking for a leaf’ after staff at Bridlington Hospital in Yorkshire told her her records showed she had been dead for four months.
“Then they put something on the computer so I could get the scan and then they just said ‘bye-bye’ and that’s it.”
It is unclear how the error occurred, as when Susan contacted her GP she was told the error had been fixed.
However, when she contacted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the call operator told her she was still marked dead in the system.
“You’re dead on the computer,” they told him. Susan then informed him that she couldn’t be dead since she was on the phone.
The error meant that Susan’s carer’s allowance to care for her disabled husband Bob was briefly suspended, although this has since been remedied.
He said he completely shut down after the news broke and said there was no one to talk to about the mistake.
Even now, she’s not sure how the mistake happened in the first place, but she’s determined to find out how it happened.
Scarborough Medical Group told the BBC they had received an electronic “death” instruction from Primary Care Support England (PCSE).
Susan’s assignment to care for her husband Bob (pictured together) was briefly suspended due to the error.
Susan had her scan at Bridlington Hospital in Yorkshire (pictured, file image)
But the PCSE said marking patients as dead is the responsibility of GPs, while NHS England also said they do not report a death to the DWP.
It is still unclear how Susan was removed from her GP records and who informed the DWP.
Susan concentrates on her hobbies of gardening and knitting as she recovers from the shock.
An NHS spokesperson said: “We are aware of an issue involving civil death registration being incorrectly recorded in a patient’s medical record.”
‘This was removed within 24 hours of it being reported to us in March 2023 and the patient was re-registered by his GP.
“We encourage the patient to contact us directly so we can explain more.”
FEMAIL has also contacted the DWP for comment.