The NHS trust in charge of St Albans City Hosppital was made to apologise for care failings following an investigation by the Health Service Ombudsman into the death of a woman in her 70s.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust was found to have discharged the patient before she was well enough, and failed to tell her or her family the patient had heart failure.

The patient, known only as Mrs F, was discharged from the trust's care one day after she was diagnosed with heart failure in winter 2012.

Her condition deteriorated at home, which lead to the woman being readmitted to intensive care within a week. Three days later she was dead.

The Ombudsman launched an investigation as to whether Mrs F had been fit to be discharged, and the hospital’s communication with her family who had not been told she was in heart failure.

When Mrs F was discharged she was eating very little, could not lie down comfortably and had swollen legs.

The investigation uncovered failings in both the care and communication provided by West Herts.

The Ombudsman found that Mrs F was discharged before her fluid balance was stabilised - contrary to the guidelines on the care of people with heart failure.

The investigation also noted there was no evidence to suggest staff had told Mrs F or her family about her heart failure.

In the report of the case, the Ombudsman said: "The Trust should not have discharged Mrs F unless she and her family agreed to this in full knowledge of her condition, her care needs and what to expect. We do not believe that this was the case."

However, the Ombudsman concluded that Mrs F did not die as a result of the care or communication failings.

The report said: "If she had remained in hospital, doctors would have responded to her deteriorating condition slightly sooner but it is very unlikely that this would have made a difference to the sad outcome.

"We do not believe that Mrs F would have lived any longer if she had stayed in hospital. However, the inappropriate discharge caused her family anger and distress and made them question whether her death was avoidable.

"The situation was made worse because Mrs F’s family did not know about her heart failure diagnosis and were not aware of how serious her condition was."

The trust was made to write to Mrs F’s family following the investigation apologising for the failings it identified. The trust also drew up an action plan that detailed how it will improve communication with patients and their families.

Mrs F's case was the second Ombudsman investigation into West Herts between July and September 2014.

The Watford Observer reported in October that a mother living in the town is dying from after an NHS trust failed to detect her breast cancer when it was still treatable.

Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said the 41-year-old woman’s life has been cut short because of the serious failings of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The trust was forced to pay £70,000 compensation, review its cancer procedures and ordered to apologise to the woman known as 'Ms G'.