‘Mum is 100 and fell as home cut care... now it’s doubling bill’
FORMER BBC Hollywood correspondent Barbra Paskin is locked in a battle with a care home she blames for her frail mother’s fall.
She says she is being billed for the extra overnight nursing needed for 100-year-old Daphne even though she thinks the incident was the home’s fault.
Barbra says it intends to cut off Daphne’s one-to-one care unless her family agrees to fund it and pay tens of thousands of pounds in backdated fees.
She claims her mother, who has dementia, fell out of bed one night during a trial at Nightingale House in South London, during which her night-time care was withdrawn.
Barbra made a complaint to Wandsworth Council, which found an “act of omission and neglect occurred”, even if her carer did not intend to cause harm, when Daphne was left unsupervised.
Insight
It added: “Mrs Paskin had a number of previous falls, she was frail with little insight into risks, and should not have been left alone unsupervised...even for a short period of time.”
Daphne’s regular care costs £1,470 a week and Nightingale House – which is rated outstanding and is the biggest Jewish care home in Europe – wants an extra £5,000 a month for extra night-time care.
Barbra, who lives in
Los Angeles, said: “We’ve reached the point where we cannot afford to pay the additional care. Withdrawing the night-time care as a trial for a few days led to my mother falling out of bed one night she was alone.
“I have appealed several times, and the council found them at fault for the accident. I’m disappointed the council blamed Nightingale for the neglect of my elderly mother but took no action against it.
“Given Nightingale’s refusal to accept liability I have to wonder what was the point of the entire investigation.”
A few months before the incident on September 26 Daphne fell three times in 11 days and was
known to be highrisk. The last fall left her in hospital for two weeks and she lost 15 per cent of her weight.
Daphne returned to the home on October 12 but had to quarantine for two weeks with a roundthe-clock personal carer.
The grandmother of three, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s five years ago, has spent her life savings on care home fees and only has enough money for a few more months. Barbra, who has not been able to see her mother because of the Covid travel ban, said: “I don’t want to bring legal action and I’m not asking for any money. I just want them to acknowledge liability and morally do the right thing which is to pay for the extra care.”
Nightingale House said: “The charity has invested in one of the UK’s largest in-house nursing home teams to reduce the numbers and severity of falls for our residents.
“Continuing health care funding is available to support those deemed to require one-to-one care, and we will always support families to make an application.We are very proud of the experience enjoyed by generations of our residents and take the care and safety of [them] very seriously.”