A DYING woman has accused Hammersmith and Fulham Council of treating her 'appallingly' by failing to ensure she was provided with urgent night care.

Elizabeth Dean, 49, who lives in West Kensington, was told she had a fatal brain tumour in June last year.

Sufferers from the rare condition - gliobalstoma multiforme IV - have a life expectancy of about a year after diagnosis.

Ms Dean cannot walk unaided and has been bedridden since December when she first applied to the council for funds to pay for night-time care, costing £9 per hour.

She receives 12 hours care each day from the council, but requires round-the-clock help after suffering severe seizures in her sleep, which doctors predict are likely to become more severe and frequent.

But for the past three months Hammersmith and Fulham Council has failed to give her money to pay for a night carer, saying the money should come from the Independent Living Fund (ILF), which is administered by central government.

In February, a senior borough social worker assured Ms Dean that local social services had applied to the ILF on her behalf and said she would receive money to employ a carer of her choice from February 15.

The money did not appear, leaving Ms Dean without vital care.

On April 10 she had a seizure during the night and collapsed on the floor where she remained until the following morning when her day carer and friend Peter Puskas arrived.

Ms Dean, a charity fundraiser, artist and designer said: "I should be spending the last weeks of my life enjoying my life, spending my remaining time with friends and in a happy frame of mind, instead I've been forced to fight the council to receive the night time care I've been told I'm entitled to.

"The council has been passing the buck. I've been spending night after night completely alone, terrified of what might happen. The council doesn't want to pay for my care. In a few months I will be dead; it's almost as if they don't care because they know that."

After inquiries last week by the Fulham Chronicle, the council arranged a meeting on Tuesday with Ms Dean to assess her case, and she was finally given a one-off payment backdated to February 15 and running until today (Friday), charged at five hours care each night. However the council said from today any night care is the responsibility of the NHS.

Carer Peter Puskas said the council is shifting responsibility: "It feels like they want the NHS to look after Elizabeth rather than pay themselves. But all the time her condition is getting worse."

A council spokesman denied any shortcomings on its behalf, saying a mix-up with the ILF meant the promised money did not arrive on time.

The spokesman said: "Ms Dean was provided with all the care she required at all times. There is absolutely no question of H&F Council failing to provide social care when it is needed.

"When it became obvious that the Independent Living Fund was not going to backdate Mrs Dean's claim the council stepped in to make sure she was not left out of pocket.

"It is a complicated system but we are not prepared to stand by and see people failed because of red tape and bureaucracy."

But Ms Dean is adamant the council knew about her situation early on and should have acted faster.

The ILF has agreed to pay her up to £63 a night to commission her own care, although that falls short of the £900 per week that she needs.