‘Our mum still matters now’
Sisters’ bid for national charter after tragic care home death
Two sisters have launched a campaign to introduce CCTV into care homes and a dementia rights charter to protect those living with the illness in memory of their mum.
Ashleigh Joachim, 47, and sister Lesley Haswell, 50, from Sunderland, lost their mum Patricia Heslop – who had dementia – at the age of 75, in April 2017.
Mrs Heslop was at Hebburn Court Dementia Nursing Care Home, a HC One Care home in South Tyneside, and as the disease progressed into late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, she lost her ability to communicate and would spend hours walking round the home.
The sisters say that after seeing her condition deteriorate, an ambulance was called at their request and their mum was admitted to hospital in November 2016, where doctors diagnosed her with an impacted hip fracture requiring extensive hip replacement surgery.
She never recovered from her injuries and died five months later in palliative care. The sisters believed their mum had suffered a fall which had not been reported.
An inquest held in March last year Sunderland Coroner Derek Winter ruled Mrs Heslop died from the combination of natural causes and an unwitnessed fall which had resulted in a fractured right femur.
The Coroner also sent a Regulation 28 report – aimed at preventing future deaths – to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Jeremy Hunt and HC One Care Homes.
The sisters have started campaign – I Still Matter Now – in memory of their mum Patricia.
The campaign sets out a Dementia Charter – including the introduction of CCTV into care homes.
Ashleigh said: “We want the case reopened. People with dementia are vulnerable.
“The Government are not stepping up to the plate on this issue and it ends up being families like us having to suffer.
“We need the charter to be a national template because every care home is different.”
The sisters are also on the lookout for a local film-maker to tell the story of the impact of dementia after seeing their mum battle with the illness.
Ashleigh said: “We want someone brave enough to make a documentary or film that is the true story of dementia – the hidden horrific truth in order that we change forever the public’s views of this terrible disease and to ensure the laws change to protect people and their families.”
A spokesperson for the HC One care home said: “The health and wellbeing of our residents is, and always will be, our top priority and we take cases such as these very seriously.
“Our deepest sympathies and apologies go to Mrs Heslop’s family for what took place in 2016 and which we were deeply saddened by.
“A full internal investigation was completed at the time and several changes were made as a result.
“This included the introduction of a new management team and the retraining of care staff.
“We also have in place a compulsory and comprehensive series of safeguarding and risk assessment evaluations which all care staff are required to complete to a high standard.
“Over the past two years we have made significant positive progress in improving care at Hebburn Court.
“This was recognised by the coroner, both during the inquest in March and in the documentation released afterwards which confirmed we addressed concerns appropriately and within a suitable timescale.
“More broadly, we receive regular positive feedback from the majority of the home’s residents and relatives too, which is why we are currently rated 9.9/10 on Carehome.co.uk, the care sector’s leading customer comparison website.
“Over recent years we have looked very closely at the use of CCTV and conducted extensive consultation with residents, and their loved ones and other stakeholders about the use of CCTV in our homes.
“We found the majority of residents, and many of their relatives, had concerns about privacy issues that would need to be addressed if CCTV were to be introduced.
“However, we continue to assess the potential benefits of the use of CCTV in our care homes and will continue to make sure we are doing everything possible to deliver the kindest care for all our residents at all times.”
Anyone who is able to get involved in making the dementiafilmcanemailsophie. brownson@jpimedia.co.uk.
People can follow the I Still Matter Now Campaign on Twitter @ ISTILLMATTERNOW.