‘High standards not met’ Care home bosses apologise to dying man’s family
BRISTOL care home bosses have apologised for a family’s distress after a resident took a dying man’s phone from his unlocked room and called his daughter as she sat with him during his final hours in hospital.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has upheld a complaint against the city council over the upsetting events at Hartcliffe Nursing Home, which have left the man’s relatives “unable to grieve”.
Care charity Methodist Homes (MHA), which runs the home, says its “usual high standards of care were not met” and that it has investigated the incident and made improvements to prevent it happening again. The ombudsman’s report said staff at the home in Murford Avenue also failed to protect the dignity of the man - named only as Mr Y - by failing to close his door when his condition significantly deteriorated one evening and the other resident “was able to watch events unfold”.
They then did not secure his room after he was moved to hospital and that same resident entered it, took his personal belongings, including his mobile, and phoned the man’s daughter while the hospital was providing end-of-life care, the report said. One of Mr Y’s other relatives, Ms X, complained to the watchdog that this caused “significant distress to the family and they are not able to grieve” his death, and she asked for the home to put service improvements in place.
In its assessment, the ombudsman said Bristol City Council partly funded the man’s residential care and so, as commissioner of his social care, was ultimately responsible for the actions of the home, which is rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Despite upholding the complaint, the watchdog said it would not investigate further because it was not persuaded it could do anything more for Ms X.
MHA chief operating officer Dan Ryan said: “Firstly, we would like to take the opportunity to sincerely apologise to the family of Mr Y for the distress the incident caused and extend our sympathies for their loss.
“Sadly, on this occasion, our usual high standards of care were not met during the incident at Hartcliffe care home. We carried out a number of investigations and reviews into what happened to ensure incidents like this do not take place again, and, as a result, have made several improvements at the home, which have been recognised by the ombudsman.”
A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “The council acknowledges and accepts the findings of the ombudsman’s investigation. Immediate changes were introduced to avoid a repeat of the distress caused in this case.
“We expect all care providers who we commission to work to the highest possible standards, as set out by the CQC, and work with providers to improve practice where any issues are raised.”