‘Wall of silence’ after pensioner’s falls at care home
ASOLIHULL woman who says her elderly mother suffered three serious falls at a borough care home is still seeking answers a year later.
Jenny Bragg has criticised the care that her mother, Joan Sanford, received during her time at Chelmund’s Court, which received a damning report from health watchdog the Care Quality Commission less than 12 months after opening.
Ms Sanford is 86 and has dementia. The great-grandmother suffered a broken hip on the first occasion, a further fracture the second time and a broken shoulder in the final fall and was left with lasting mobility problems as a result.
Ms Bragg, from Knowle, has also accused Solihull Council’s social care team of not acting quickly enough when it became apparent that there were problems at the Chelmsley Wood-based facility.
Runwood Homes, which operates the home, insisted it took the “care of our residents very seriously” and said the most recent CQC report showed there had been significant improvements at the site. The council conceded Ms Sanford’s
care “fell short” of required standards but said it had worked closely with the care provider to help the site emerge from “special measures”.
Ms Bragg, whose mother was transferred out following the third fall, described the care as “disgusting”. She said: “It was horrendous what happened to my mum. She had three major falls. There have got to be changes, we have got to take care of our elderly.”
Ms Sanford, a former shop steward at Triumph motorcycles in Meriden, was diagnosed with dementia a decade ago and moved to Chelmund’s Court in 2018.
Ms Bragg, 62, said: “It seemed very nice, all very spanking new and everything and then just probably within three or four weeks, things weren’t quite the same.
“There didn’t seem to be so many staff. My mum said: ‘Take home, get me out of here’.”
In the past year, she has been pressing Runwood for answers about the incidents and requested a copy of the accident log-book, but claimed she had frequently faced a “wall of silence”.
Last week she met with a senior officer to discuss her concerns.
A Solihull Council spokesman said: “The council acknowledges the level of care Jenny’s mother received fell short of the required standards.
“The council was aware of concerns regarding the quality of care in the home and was working with Runwood, the care home management company, to ensure improvements were made.
“The council and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group took the decision to stop placing new residents in the care home until the quality of care had sufficiently improved.
“The council launched a largescale safeguarding inquiry and reviewed the welfare of all affected residents.
“Since this inspection the quality of care at Chelmund’s Court has greatly improved as evidenced by the follow-up inspection.”
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