Police bar nun from care home for helping friend, 91, out of bed
A NUN was escorted from a nursing home by police after she helped a friend out of bed and into a change of clothes.
Former nurse Mairead Murphy said she was appalled at the state of 91-year-old Parkinson’s sufferer Nora Ayliffe.
She said she acted after noticing a strong smell of urine in the room and stains on Nora’s clothes.
But care home bosses said she was not qualified to help her friend out of bed.
Mairead said that to her horror, they summoned police who told her not to return to privately-run Regency Court care home in Littlehampton, West Sussex.
Days later the nun, who qualified as a nurse in 1981, drove Nora’s partner Sean Corry, 84, to visit her.
She said that to her amazement, police were again called to take her off the premises and she was made to wait by the front door for almost an hour while Mr Corry went in.
Healthcare group Bupa said Mairead had violated approved safety procedures because the task of helping Nora required two trained care home staff.
Bupa also defended the manager’s decision to report Mairead to social services. Mairead said: “I’m a farmer’s daughter and proud of it but the pigs on our farm were in a better state than I found Nora.
“I can’t get my head around the mentality of safeguarding Nora from me, her friend who loves her dearly and would do all I can to make her comfortable and happy.”
Mairead, who has been a nun since 1968, previously reported the home to the Care Quality Commission in 2015 after concern for Nora’s welfare.
The home received a “requires improvement” rating after an inspection but won an improved “good” rating after an unannounced inspection last year.
Bupa managing director Kay Cox said: “We work closely with the council’s safeguarding team who have reviewed the situation and are confident we have taken all the right steps to ensure Nora’s safety.
“We have strict rules to protect health and wellbeing of our residents and lifting them requires two trained staff.
“We therefore always ask all visitors to our homes not to attempt to lift residents from their beds and instead ask for assistance from our carers.”