Sunday, 5 March 2017

Elderly dementia patient died covered in unexplained injuries sparks care home inquiry



The following account and pictures may cause distress and be upsetting, if you don’t feel able to read this article please exit out now.

An 85-year old dementia patient, was left with deep gashes, carpet burns and extensive bruising after a month-long stay at a £825-a-week home.  The family have released pictures of their loved one who sadly has since passed away.  These images have sparked outrage and calls for an investigation after these unexplained injuries became apparent.

recording of bruises to patient
The family noticed small marks on the patients arms and buttocks just a week after she moved there and say staff started dressing her in long-sleeved clothes.

The daughter, 63, and other relatives later discovered sore carpet burns on her legs and were told by carers that the great-grandmother had suffered a fall.

Allegedly, the patient asked her relatives why the ‘horrible’ night staff had forced her crawl on the floor.
bruices to arms
bruises to legs 


further bruises to arms 


The extremely concerned family bought a hidden camera to install in the Care Home’s room, but an ambulance was called to the home last July before they could set it up.

When paramedics arrived, they peeled back her clothes and discovered the sickening extent of her injuries.

Her family claim carers didn’t record a single one.

The former civil servant was rushed to hospital where her battered body reduced one doctor to tears, her family said.

Sadly, only 12-days later the patient died from pneumonia, she’s not spoken a single word between the incident and her death.

The Care Quality Commission, who admitted this moth they “feared being sued by Care Providers”, says it is ‘inspecting’ the care home and a report will be published later.  The allegations of abuse come as new figures show that 23,000 allegations of abuse were made against home carers in the UK from 2013-16, but only 15 resulted in prosecution.

We don’t know if this abuse was intentional or through lack of training, but what we do know is that at the end of life this patient was not treated with dignity, compassion or care.

The family state:
‘They took away the end of her life but absolutely nothing has been done since we reported our concerns, and other residents are still living there’. 

‘We just feel so guilty that we didn’t get her out of there. Whatever she went through killed her but absolutely nothing has been done’.

The family added that personal possessions went missing, the home was dirty and cold, staff were rude and residents were stuck in front of the TV all day.

Within weeks of arriving at the Care Home, the patient – who could previously walk unaided – was wearing adult nappies, relied on a wheelchair and had marks on her body, her family claim.  As well as sustaining more than 20 unexplained injuries, she was left in soiled pads, her hair was matted and she had high levels of blood thinner Warfarin in her system.

The care home in a statement said that they ‘The case went to safeguarding and it is private and confidential. We have followed all the recommendations and it was all dealt with.  We are not prepared to comment on it as it is private and confidential.’

In the CQC’s latest inspection report dated 2016 the home was rated as requiring improvement having shown ‘significant improvement’ on a previous report in 2015 that saw it placed in special measures.

Amanda Stride, Head of inspection for Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission said: ‘CQC can confirm inspectors are currently inspecting the Care Home, as a result of information of concern raised to us.  ‘A report detailing the findings of our most recent inspection will be published in due course. Our first concern is the welfare of the people who have been living at the Care Home.

Amanda Stride added, ‘We are satisfied that the local authority and safeguarding teams have acted in conjunction with the provider to ensure the safety of people living there.’

No comments: