48hrs after care move, grandfather was dead
WITH his doting granddaughter by his side, Alfred Dodd celebrates turning 85 on Christmas Day in 2013.
Although fragile and bruised, he is surrounded by cards and a birthday balloon from his adoring family.
Less than a year later, Mr Dodd died after being forced out of his care home on one of the coldest nights of the year.
The great-grandfather’s death was shrouded in secrecy with a coroner deciding not to hold an inquest into his death and authorities refusing to reveal his name.
Mr Dodd, who was known to friends as Mick, died from pneumonia less than 48 hours after the upheaval of the move from Merok Park in Banstead, Surrey.
His formal causes of death include bronchopneumonia, a lung infection usu- ally linked to a cold or flu. He also had prostate cancer and a urine infection.
His family are now calling for the Care Quality Commission to answer urgent questions about why the ‘terrible’ evacuation was ordered with such little notice.
Their call is echoed by the family of Winifred Lake, a 91-year- old great-grandmother who died less than two weeks after she was suddenly moved from the care home where she had lived for 25 years.
They believe she would still be alive if she was not forced out so suddenly.
Mr Dodd, who was married to Barbara, 75, had a son, two daughters, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The former office manager had become desperately unwell with dementia and was taken to hospital just over a year ago. While his family were reluctant to have him put in full time care, they eventually had him placed at Merok Park, with the costs covered in part by the family and by his pension.
Mr Dodd’s son Russell, 55, a construction manager from Chipstead, Surrey, said they were in ‘total shock’ to discover there had been official reports of an ‘overwhelming’ smell of urine at Merok Park with residents forced to bathe in cold water.
Despite the CQC’s findings, they believe inspectors should have managed a measured evacuation of the home, taking it over for a time before allowing residents to be moved when they were ready.
Instead, Mr Dodd’s son was told about the move just a few hours before it took place on December 9 last year.
Mr Dodd, who bruised easily and was suffering with a large pressure sore, was evacuated in the dark at about 5.30pm.
His son said: ‘Couldn’t somebody have moved into that home and looked after those people? Whoever made the decision to do what they did and the time of what they did, that was wrong.
‘The CQC and social services –
Loved one: Alfred Dodd celebrates his 85th birthday with his granddaughter Caroline Mead they are the people that have to answer the questions.’
Mr Dodd’s grandson Oliver, 17, added: ‘I don’t think it’s right to just shut the place down and chuck people out in the cold. He was already on the edge. That could have put him over the edge.’
Mr Dodd’s daughter Julie said they were assured by the coroner he died of natural causes and not because of the move.
Mrs Lake was at Grantley Court for nearly 25 years until the south London nursing home, which has the same owners as Merok Park, was evacuated on December 12, at two days’ notice.
Her family believe her death on Christmas Day, partly from hypertension, was caused by the upheaval. Tony Lake, 62, said he visited his mother the day after the move and noticed her anxiety.
He added: ‘From then on in she didn’t eat and she was reluctant to drink. The cause for her not being here now is the move,’ he said.
‘It was the suddenness of it – not being able to prepare for it. The swiftness of the move was too much stress and led to her sudden deterioration. They [the CQC] had known all that time but they left it until the last minute. Lessons need to be learnt from this.’