Family ‘kept in dark over details of OAP’s death’

THE family of an elderly woman who died of a stroke – and the after effects of being pushed over while in care – will receive an apology and £800 compensation from Stockport council.

A watchdog said relatives were kept in the dark about the circumstances leading up to the woman’s death and a series of failings ‘prolonged their distress.’

The move comes after her daughters made several complaints about the way the authority – and care home operator Borough Care – handled the aftermath of the fall.

Their mother, who is referred to as Mrs C in a report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, was ‘increasingly in need of support’ and had Alzheimer’s disease when she moved into a care home in 2016.

In 2017, she was pushed to the floor by a male resident and, as a result, broke her hip, which required surgery.

After being discharged from hospital – approximately two weeks later – Mrs C suffered a stroke and passed away at the beginning of June.

“In October, the coroner concluded Mrs C died of a stroke – and added the hip fracture was also a contributing factor to her death,” the report read.

However, the coroner also noted that her family had not been informed of the circumstances which led to the injury.

Concerns were also raised during the inquest information relating to Mrs C had allegedly ‘gone missing’ – and statements that were available contained errors, her family said.

The coroner also believed there was a ‘risk’ of further deaths at the home unless Borough Care ‘took action’ and ordered the firm to respond with what measures it proposed to take.

The reply stated ‘the care home manager had not followed its procedure and should have informed the Head of Care about the incident and Mrs C’s injury.’

The family subsequently complained to Borough Care about how it had handled the matter.

The firm issued a further response stating that as the member of staff on duty during the incident no longer worked at the care home, ‘it could not ascertain what happened’ after Mrs C had fallen.

In regard to the inaccurate or missing statements, ‘it said the manager was responsible for collecting these from senior staff and apologised this did not happen.’

At the end of February 2018, Mrs C’s daughters submitted a further complaint to the council .

The council’s safeguarding service manager responded: “The information provided at the time stated the actions of the male resident were deemed out of character.

“Because of this, a safeguarding abuse investigation was not opened.”

A council officer also confirmed that the care home had not recorded details of the incident or the actions of its staff.

The explanations were rejected by the family – and, in May, the matter was escalated to the local ombudsman.

It was decided that Mrs C’s family experienced ‘considerable distress’ brought on by not being told what exactly happened to their mother when the incident took place.

“Given the coroner concluded the injury Mrs C sustained in the home contributed to her death, I understand why they are anxious to establish the facts,” the ombudsman report said.

“However, it is evident that few records were made at the time and the Council was right when it told Mrs A and Mrs B that it is extremely unlikely a new safeguarding enquiry could offer any new evidence or additional details, given the coroner was unable to do this despite the powers available to him.

“Therefore, the family are left not knowing what happened and this has caused them a great deal of uncertainty.

“They should have been consulted about the outcome of the internal investigation, if and when it began, but they were not.

“In response, Borough Care issued a lacklustre apology when it should have acknowledged its fault.”

The report adds: “Following this, the council took two months to respond.

“Consequently, this prolonged the family’s distress and compounded their frustration of not knowing what happened to their mother.”

The council has agreed to write to the family with an apology and an explanation of what went wrong, the ombudsman said.

The town hall has also agreed to make a ‘symbolic payment’ of £800.

A spokesman from Stockport council said: “We are sorry for how this has been handled, hence our apology to the family, but we’re content that the ombudsman is satisfied with our safeguarding procedures.”

A spokesman from Borough Care said the company has implemented all the recommendations in the report.