CARER ‘HIT GRANNY’S HEAD AGAINST WALL’
GRACE Rees, 94, was interviewed by police when a carer allegedly hit her head against a wall.
It was the first in a series of worrying incidents said to have taken place at £2,300-a-month Abbeywood House in Torquay, Devon.
Dementia sufferer Mrs Rees suffered a lump to her temple after the incident which occurred when the care worker tried to move her.
The grandmother said her arms, which were stopping her head hitting the wall, were moved by the carer. The employee was suspended, but denied assault.
A police report said: ‘Police have accepted Mrs Grace Rees’s complaint and her account is believed, although there is no evidence to take the case any further forward.’ Mrs Rees was moved to Abbeywood in 2014 after a rat entered her old nursing home – Hadleigh Court, also in Torquay – and bit an elderly resident’s face.
In April this year, an ambulance was called to assist Mrs Rees when she fell out of her bed. Paramedics were stunned to find only two workers on duty – one an ‘inexperienced’ 18-year-old – for 21 residents. Mrs Rees’s daughter Leonie, 57, is moving her mother to a new home.
Abbeywood House said last night: ‘Abbeywood House takes its responsibilities to all its residents extremely seriously. Due to medical confidentiality we are unable to comment on individual cases, but we have been in regular contact with Leonie Rees to ensure that her mother receives the most appropriate care for her needs.’