A GRAN turned up to a breast screening appointment to find out she had been declared dead.

Angela Palmer was about to be checked when she was told the system had her registered as deceased.

She had been the victim of a clerical gaffe after attending A&E for infected mosquito bites weeks earlier. The NHS trust sent the gran of six a letter of apology.

But no one knew how to put it right and she was left in limbo for more than a month.

Angela, 57, said: “I was at my screening and the lady was very surprised and said ‘I shouldn’t tell you this but I will, you’ve been classed as deceased and all your appointments are cancelled.’

“The system was showing I died on May 29, the day I went to A&E at Derriford Hospital for mosquito bites.

“They told my GP to cancel all my appointments.

“It caused a lot of hassle and I was traumatised.

“They told me nothing like this had ever happened before.”

Angela later got a letter from NHS University Hospitals Plymouth, signed by emergency consultant Dr Roddy Campbell.

It read: “Of course you are not dead and I want to apologise for the administrative inconvenience you may have had.”

Angela claims she was still classed as deceased in the system until around two weeks ago.

She added: “A lot of people had a laugh. I went in for a prescription and the receptionist said ‘Congratulations, you’re not RIP any more’.

“My neighbour told the local Indian takeaway and when I went past they joked, ‘How come you’re still walking around?’”