Care firm pays out for home negligence

A CARE home firm has paid thousands in damages to the grieving family of a woman after admitting that its care was negligent.

Christina Bretton, 76, was found in a semi-conscious state at The Denby Care Home in Denby Dale, just a week after becoming a resident.

Her family say she was “walking, talking and feeding herself” when she went into the luxury home on March 13, 2016 – which was launched by TV star Dame Esther Rantzen a year earlier.

But just eight days later she was carried out with her “head back and her eyes half open” to be transferred to another facility operated by the same company in Oakes.

After a week at the Oakes Care Centre, she was found slumped in a wheelchair, virtually unconscious, and was taken to hospital.

She was admitted to hospital with an infection and apparent severe bed sores and found to be severely dehydrated.

After a three-week stay in hospital that required treatment with antibiotics and re-hydration via an intravenous drip she was moved to a different care provider in Wakefield, where the family are from.

She remained there, in a reduced state of consciousness and unable to speak to her family.

She sadly died in January 2017 aged 77.

Mrs Bretton’s daughter, Kathryn Bretton, said: “My mother was completely let down.

“She was just left abandoned and alone and it was heartbreaking to witness.

“To see her being carried out after just over a week in the home was incredibly upsetting. She walked into the home and was talking and able to feed herself.

“In such a short time she had been taken from us.

“It is heart-breaking as, in her mind, she probably feels she was just put in a home and abandoned by her family. That is hard to live with, but it was never the case.”

Mrs Bretton’s daughter says she made official complaints to the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) but was unimpressed with their investigation.

During the legal case it was admitted that a nasty blister on her heel must have occurred whilst she was resident at The Denby Care Home and her fluid and nutrition needs had been ignored while she was at Meridian’s other home in Oakes.

“The poor care provided to my mother upset and angered me, but the lack of answers and accountability afterwards made matters worse,” said Kathryn.

“The CQC went straight in but clearly didn’t ask the right questions and gave the home a good report.

“Then we had to challenge and appeal the initial findings of the Kirklees Safeguarding officials as they sided with the care home and suggested that the grade 4 pressure sore on mum’s heel had been caused by her rubbing her heel on the carpet during a 30-minute car journey when she was transferred from Denby to the Oakes care home.

“It was at that stage, where we didn’t feel we were getting any answers and mum was being let down by the system, that dad decided to instruct a solicitor.

“It seemed the only way of holding them properly to account.”

Solicitor Michelle Tebbutt, a specialist in handling claims relating to medical negligence at Hudgell Solicitors, says it was only right that Meridian Healthcare Limited admitted breaching its duty of care, leading to a fivefigure damages settlement being reached out of court.

She said: “This has been another sad