Family agony over torment of 94-year-old humiliated by care workers
A FAMILY’S secret recording exposed how care home staff subjected a vulnerable 94-year-old great-great grandmother to ‘highly inappropriate’ sexual chat and ‘unacceptable’ treatment.
Dementia sufferer Doreen MacIntyre’s family were horrified to hear two workers hold explicit conversations in front of her.
The recording, made by Mrs MacIntyre’s daughter Blan Bremner, also revealed how the two employees humiliated her with a slow round of applause after she asked them for ‘a hand’.
Another section revealed Mrs MacIntyre had to wait an hour-anda-half for staff to answer her pleas for help.
Mrs Bremner, 61, said the recording had left her ‘physically sick’ and in tears: ‘I just couldn’t stop crying. I just wandered about thinking it couldn’t be true. She was my mum and we were very close.’
Mrs Bremner, a GP surgery receptionist, made the 16-hour recording in September 2013, after her mother suddenly became unhappy at Kingsmills Care Home, Inverness.
Mrs Bremner said: ‘Her behaviour changed around the third week in August. She said, “They’re calling me a bloody pest”.’
The family hid a dictaphone under two red napkins beside Mrs MacIntyre’s bed. Mrs Bremner described her horror at the contents.
She said: ‘One member of staff was talking about his sex life with his wife and ex-partners. Poor mum was just lying there. I couldn’t believe it. I just thought, please stop. Let somebody nice come into the room. They were just making a fool of her.’
In another part of the tape, Mrs Bremner said her mother could be heard calling for help for an hourand-a-half. ‘She was distressed. She was crying out for a nurse and sobbing in between.’
Her daughter said Mrs MacIntyre – a retired home help – was also called a ‘liar’ when she said she needed the toilet.
Mrs Bremner, of Ardersier, Inverness-shire, believes her mother’s experience contributed to her decline before her death in November 2013. ‘She turned into a nervous wreck. She was asking, “Can you take me home, they’re being bad to me”. She was frightened to touch her buzzer for the toilet.’
Mrs Bremner wrote to the Health Secretary Shona Robison, who referred the complaint to the Care Inspectorate.
Mrs Bremner added: ‘But it took two years for the Care Inspectorate to look into it. In that time, I didn’t feel we could move on. I have four sisters and a brother and we all feel
‘I just couldn’t stop crying’ ‘She was loved and respected’
so guilty. She was loved and respected. We’re devastated.’
Two workers, a man and a woman, were suspended but quit their jobs before the disciplinary process could be completed. The Care Inspectorate upheld three complaints against the home after an investigation and said the conduct of the two workers was ‘unacceptable’.
In a letter to Mrs Bremner it said: ‘The recordings evidenced a disregard for your mother and a lack of empathy, dignity and respect.’
A spokesman for the inspectorate said: ‘This was a highly distressing case and no one should have to go through this. Although our most recent inspection found improvements at the care home and some examples of good care, we have upheld three complaints about the actions from two years ago and have made a formal requirement for improvement. We will continue to inspect the care home.’
Kingsmills Care Home said police and social services had investigated and found ‘no indication of any form of mistreatment or wilful neglect’. It added: ‘We have apologised sincerely to Mrs Bremner that there were instances when her mother’s care fell below the standards we expect to provide.’