Grandmother, 70, died hours after being found 'frozen' in her council home of 25 years after authorities failed to fix broken heating - electric boot heaters

A pensioner shivering through Christmas in a cold home died after being found to have a low body temperature.
Because the Parliament did not fix her central heating system.
Susan Burns has lived in Kent's Parliament House for 25 years, but after the local authorities ordered the electric heater to be turned off, she did not have any work radiators.
The authorities did not realize that 70-year-
On last July, the House Inspector found that she was heating the house with an electric storage heater that needed to be replaced and planned to install it.
However, delays including connecting natural gas supplies and conducting asbestos investigations mean 70-year-
In the coldest time of the year, the old had to live without heating until the work of the East Kent House was able to be done.
Hospital records showed Mrs. Burns's core body temperature was 29 degrees.
When the paramedics found her
It is more than five degrees lower than the NHS's 35 C benchmark temperature, and people are at risk of low body temperature.
Mrs. Burns's son, Mark, said his mother had struggled to climb the stairs in her white home, and she had been sleeping on the first floor of the hotel to take a shower.
Preparations for the introduction of central heating began in September, but the installation was postponed until after Christmas.
"Around October, when the weather began to get cold, housing officials gave her two fan heaters," said Burns.
We're talking a little cheaper.
They are not enough to warm up the house.
"She did not use them because they were not allowed to be unsupervised and she was too disabled to find them quickly if they caught fire.
"It was a very cold night and when she was sleeping it would be a fire hazard to have them open.
On January 8, the ambulance staff found Mrs. Burns's body temperature was too low in a cold room.
The pensioner had many other health problems, including vascular disease and kidney problems, and died of multiple organ failure in the hospital the next morning.
Her death certificate does not record a low body temperature, but her son believes that a low body temperature plays an important role in her death.
"My mother's organs were badly damaged," he said.
She died of heart failure, but no heating was the straw that crushed the back of the camel.
It's hard to prove because her death is consistent with her illness.
But the bottom line is 70-year-
Old women should not be allowed to be in this state.
She was found to be very low and close to death.
She's frozen. there's no heating.
At that time of year
There was no investigation into Mrs. Burns's death, but EKH later conducted an investigation into the heating of her property.
Before 2015, she was admitted to hospital because of her low temperature.
A spokesman said: "We are sad to learn that Mrs. Burns died and realize that it is very painful for her family and still very painful.
The electrical storage heaters in Mrs. Burns's home are close to the end of life and after a series of repairs to them, they are identified as replacement heaters.
They were repaired as soon as possible when the fault was reported, making sure Mrs. Burns could use the heating facility, and if there was a fault or additional heating was required, we also provided her with a temporary heater.
Ekh said they advised Mrs. Baines to install a gas.
The survey of central heating and hot water systems was carried out in last July.
The spokesman continued that preparations began on September, during which the property was unable to access natural gas supplies.
"This was originally done by Mrs. Burns's family and was later supported by EKH.
Gas supplies were in place by last November, which led to the resumption of preparations.
This indicates the need for an asbestos survey in December.
The spokesman said Mrs Burns decided not to start work until after Christmas because the work would be "interrupted ".
Mrs. Burns's family informed us of her death and decided to suspend all work to give the family time to take care of their affairs and address their housing needs.
We have made changes to our procedures to ensure that our contractors ask if there is a gas supply and conduct asbestos investigations early so that future installations will be faster.
Mark Anderson, property services director at EKH, said in a letter to Burns: "My comments conclude that there are lessons to be learned, especially in terms of agreed contacts, when a family is initially investigated, the checks that need to be carried out, the regularity of communication and the content of communication, and ensure that we engage with authorized family members and advocates where we work with vulnerable residents.
Burns hopes the findings will prevent similar incidents.
He added: "At the end of the day, there is nothing I can do to get my poor mother back.
"But there are other people out there who are suffering, and by discussing this, things that happen to my mom to others may stop.