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Elsie Walford |
MP CALLS FOR PROBE INTO CARE DEATHS
Care home manager suspended after woman left dead in bed for 3 days
ISLINGTON North MP Jeremy Corbyn called for a public inquiry this week into the “medieval” way elderly people in a private care home were left dead in their beds for days.
The scandal has already prompted the suspension of an Islington care home manager by private company Care UK.
Unions claim that problems may arise over weekends owing to staff shortages. This is denied by Care UK, who say that staffing levels remain the same throughout the week.
Former dinner lady Elsie Walford, 68, was left dead for almost three days with just fans to cool the room at Care UK’s Lennox House home in Durham Road, Finsbury Park.
It follows a report that 97-year-old Winifred Staines died on July 14 and was left in the home in similar circumstances.
Elsie had cancer and Alzheimer’s so the family were expecting her to die.
She passed away with her family gathered around her at 1.16am on Saturday July 5 but was not removed by undertakers until 12.40pm on Monday July 8.
Her sister Carol Kendall, of Thorpedale Road, said: “Five or 10 minutes after Elsie died a carer came into the room and asked if she had gone. I said ‘Yes’.
“I said ‘Isn’t a doctor supposed to certify death?’ But the worker said they can’t call people out at weekends.
“The workers put a sheet up to Elsie’s neck and they put a fan at the foot of the bed. Then they brought two other power fans into the room.”
Elsie’s daughter Mandy asked a member of the staff to call an undertaker who would normally be on call 24 hours a day.
Mrs Kendall added: “We were told her body would have to stay until Monday when they would call a coroner. I said I didn’t think she needed a coroner.”
Mrs Kendall said her sister was well loved and deserved dignity and respect after she died.
She added: “But the treatment she got was medieval. You wouldn’t treat a dog like that.
“There has got to be someone who you can call when someone dies. My main concern is that this never happens to anyone else.”
Elsie was cremated following a service at Islington and St Pancras crematorium, in East Finchley.
Another local funeral director said it is standard procedure when someone dies during the night at a residential home for an out-of-hours GP to be called.
He added: “Once that GP has certified death you phone a funeral director who in most cases will come out day or night and take the body back to their premises, where there are refrigerated facilities.
“Even if a death is being reported to a coroner, the body can be taken, out of hours, by an undertaker to a hospital or a local mortuary.”
Mr Corbyn said he was shocked by the reports on Care UK: “At the very least we need a full public inquiry into the performance of these homes and Care UK. I also want an examination into the whole relationship between the council and its private contractors. I believe council in-house care services tend to be better run and more accountable.”
Labour leader Councillor Catherine West, who has been campaigning for spot checks by councillor’s on the borough’s care homes, said: “We need a full-scale inquiry into all the borough’s care homes. We need to look very carefully at staffing levels – this is part of the reason we had great concerns about the contract. They are looking for value for money, which leads to a loss of jobs and inferior service. This could be the tip of the iceberg.”
A Care UK spokeswoman said there is no difference in staffing levels during the week and at weekends, claiming high quality care in a safe environment in all homes is a top priority.
She added: “That priority has not been compromised in any way at Lennox House. The company has carried out an initial investigation and the manager at Lennox House has been suspended pending further inquiries. An experienced Care UK manager has taken over the running of the home on a day-to-day basis.
“It is our policy not to comment on the details of ongoing investigations.”
Council deputy leader Terry Stacy said: “Such delays in reporting a death to the coroner are distressing and unacceptable. We have asked Care UK to launch an immediate investigation into the concerns raised.
This is not the first time Islington’s care homes have been at the centre of a controversy:
• In 2006 Care UK, who run some Islington care homes,
including Lennox House, came under fire after slashing wages of 83 workers previously contracted to Islington Council, leading to warnings the quality of care would suffer.
• Last year three care workers who encouraged disabled
residents at the now-closed Medina Road residential care home in Holloway, run by Craegmoor plc, to abuse each other racially and physically were jailed for six months.
• In December last year, coroner Dr Andrew Reid raised
concerns about the skills of staff nursing patients following the death of resident John Jackson at Cheverton Lodge, Upper
Holloway, run by private company Barchester Healthcare.
• In March this year the Tribune revealed how Mary Quigley, 78, spent her final days being mistreated by staff at St Anne’s care home, Durham Road, run by not-for-profit care provider Anchor Homes. |
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Your comments:
My mother was a resident on the ground floor of Lennox House for five months until her death last December. She was poorly treated there. My family had her case investigated by Islington PCT who admitted that there are major problems there. Islington PCT and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) are supposedly monitoring Lennox House. This does not seem to have had any effect. Reading this article has shown that they have not made any improvements.
Peter White |
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