Mum had to sell her home to pay £800 a week for care yet she ended up alone in her room, thin, cold, filthy and bruised
AN ELDERLY woman who suffers from dementia was found by her daughter dirty, bruised and freezing cold in a supposedly “outstanding” £800-a-week care home.
Anne, 74, pays almost £42,000 a year for accommodation, which would be free for those with cancer and other serious diseases.
Her daughter Paula Yarnall has accused Forest Hill Care Home in Nottinghamshire of neglect after the alleged mistreatment.
Paula was looking forward to their reunion in December after Covid forced them apart but was appalled to find Anne lying in dirty bedsheets with blackened feet.
She said her mother’s lips were almost blue with cold and her hands frozen as she shivered in a T-shirt in winter temperatures.
And she told how the smell of urine in Anne’s bedroom was so strong that it was difficult to breathe and made her eyes sting.
She says she also found urinesoaked clothes in cupboards and her long-time vegetarian mum was given meals containing meat.
Paula said: “It’s absolutely souldestroying for a member of your family to be suffering in this way and you’re helpless to do anything.
“We left her in the care of people who are being paid to do a job.
“Pensioners are paying through the nose for their care but staff are not caring.
“My mum was forced to sell the house she had lived in since 1953 to pay Forest Hill Care Home almost £1,000 a week for supposedly outstanding care.
“Her feet were absolutely covered with ingrained dirt, which was embedded into her feet.
“She obviously had not been helped to shower or bathe for a long time. Her bedding was full of this dirt and her toenails were all overgrown.
“She was bruised and thin, not wearing her own clothes, and obviously this treatment affected her health and her dementia.”
The care home has responded to these claims and said they should be considered in the context of a complex case and the need to respond to a resident’s wishes.
Paula went on: “She was an emergency admission from hospital in January 2021.
“I wasn’t allowed in because of Covid but I sent the care home managers a full written brief detailing her likes and dislikes and telling them what kind of person my mum is.All of that was ignored.
“After the strain of looking after her at home for eight months and because the home was rated outstanding and specialised in the care of people with dementia, the whole family was relieved when Forest Hill was suggested. But her stay turned into a nightmare.”
The Daily Express is calling on the Government to keep its 2019 election promise and double dementia funding in the hope of finding medicines and cures.
Paula, a mother of two, said her mum juggled raising three children with various jobs including delivering milk.
Anne inherited a two-bed semi in Worksop, Notts, from her grandmother and lived there for almost 70 years until she sold it last year for £103,000 to pay care bills.
Paula, of Arnold, Notts, added: “After months apart through the pandemic, the distress of seeing her this way has been overwhelming.
“My mum’s room has been filthy and only cleaned when I’ve cleaned it. Last week there was an inspection announced by the Care Quality Commission. I went in the day before and found staff cleaning and scrubbing. It’s a joke. How can any watchdog do a proper inspection when they announce in advance that they’re turning up? The home has serious failings. It’s unacceptable.”
Barchester Healthcare, which owns the Forest Hill care home in Worksop, has apologised to the family and said two staff members have been suspended pending an investigation.
A spokesman said: “We are in contact with the family and have taken a number of actions while also having expressed sincere apologies.
“Two members of staff have been suspended while we conduct an investigation and we’ve notified the Care Quality Commission of the concerns raised. Our senior team
has reviewed cleaning procedures and care plans and reiterated to the team what is needed.
“Given the complexity of this case, some of the claims should be taken in context of the staff in the home wanting to respect a resident’s wishes.
“However, we are taking this extremely seriously and will do everything possible to ensure this is addressed in full.”
Jayne Connery, who runs Care Campaign For The Vulnerable, is calling for cameras in homes to ensure transparency. She said: “People with dementia cannot tell people about neglect or abuse.
“So it is vital the industry looks at the benefits for both the staff and families and more so for the vulnerable people living in care homes. We urge families not to consider care homes unless they have safety monitoring in place.
“Insist with local authorities that they support care packages at home.”
Paula and her family are trying to move Anne to another home.
But they will have to find £1,600 a month for a “top-up” fee alongside a £1,350-a-week main charge.
The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto included a pledge to double investment into dementia to £160million per year for 10 years and speed up drug trials.
But more than two years after the policy was announced – by then health secretary Matt Hancock in the Daily Express – the cash injection dubbed the “Dementia Moonshot” has not materialised.
Instead, government spending on research has fallen, prompting fears progress will halt and young scientists will leave the sector.
Kate Terroni, chief inspector of adult social care at the CQC, said: “CQC has been made aware of concerns regarding Forest Hill in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and we have taken swift action to carry out an unannounced inspection. We take all concerns of this nature very seriously and we are taking regulatory action at this service to ensure people are safe.
“As an inspection is ongoing we are not able to comment further, however we will publish a full report when it has gone through our quality review process.
“All information we receive informs our monitoring of services and future inspections to ensure people are receiving safe care.
“Where there is evidence people are at immediate risk of harm, we will not hesitate to take action by carrying out an inspection at the service and – where necessary – take further regulatory action.”