Case Studies

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable is receiving a high number of responses to the reports of the Government 'thinking of merging social care with the NHS'. One supporter, whose end of life mother she nursed during family visitation restrictions told us the care home her mother was in was ill prepared to deliver specialised care to her and other vulnerable elderly residents living with Dementia and Alzheimers. Please note Care Campaign for the Vulnerable has supported the family from when their mother entered the care home two years ago and seen extensive correspondance to managment raising serious concerns in their mother's care delivery. Ref: https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/government-quashes-report-it-plans-to-merge-nhs-and-social-care/

PLEASE NOTE DISTRESSING PHOTOS IF YOU SCROLL DOWN...FAMILY HAVE GIVEN FULL PERMISSION BUT WE HAVE CHOSEN TO HIDE IDENTITY. THE CARE QUALITY COMMISSION (CQC ) HAVE BEEN INFORMED

''My mother was placed under "lockdown" in March 2020, three weeks after being assessed by the occupational health team & them requesting a new wheelchair for her. She was losing weight and frail, but verbal, eating & drinking (lightly, but better when time was taken to encourage her). From April onwards after a lot of wrangling, I was able to agree with the care home that I could visit her daily because she had been assessed by a Doctor (over the telephone) who had put her on "end of life" care. This is after being bed bound (I was told she didn't want to get up any more & was refusing food) & in her room 24 hours a day with no visitors for 2 weeks. I saw my mother had rapidly lost weight, rapidly lost her "light" & rapidly had given-up. She went from 52kg (last weight in March 2020) and too frail to lift her head within eight weeks. The week before my mother died (beginning of June 2020), I arrived as usual (between 9-10am), put on my PPE in the lobby downstairs and went upstairs in the lift. (All dementia patients are on the first / second floors as the ground floor has now been earmarked for residential care and is having a HUGE refurburbishment before and during the lockdown).

''I made my way along the quiet, empty corridor, past the empty lounge & day room & past some open door rooms - I stopped and waved to the residents I had got to know, to try to give some human interaction). About twenty meters from my mothers room, I could hear a faint "help''. My heart stopped...''

I ran to her room, opened the door (why they close the doors in this current situation is beyond me) and found my beautiful mother with her head down the side of the bed, between the window sill, wall & bed base. As the bed was placed against the wall, I couldn't move it to get her up as she would have fallen right off that side and I physically couldn't lean over to lift her, so I had to go into the corridor and literally run around to find someone to help me lift her back. Luckily, I found a carer who had been with mum previously but had been moved to a different floor (due to staff shortages, because many were off work self-isolating) who was making her way to the kitchen area. She came with me and was terribly shocked and helped me move mum back. There is no way of knowing how long she had been like that, except upon complaining to the staff on duty, I was told that mum had been "sat-up" slightly as a carer had tried to get her to eat that morning. The carer had left her for what they thought would be a split second as someone else needed urgent help and then that carer had been called away for something else.

'Indentation' marks occured on their mother who was at end of life care when she got lodged between the wall, bed base and window sill.

As the door was shut & the bed was left in a semi-seated position, my mother (who had NO physical strength) was left alone & she slid sideways, unable to stop herself..

This is just one of a catalogue of awful things I have seen - inside a care home during lock down - as I was one of us who insisted on being allowed to visit. I was the only "non-staff" (apart from builders) allowed in all through lockdown & believe me, I hated leaving my mum after my allocated two hours a day. My dear mother died the following week - NOT from Covid, but from "dementia related illness".

Her death was horrific. I have never seen anything like it. She literally dehydrated and starved to death, which was a protracted, painful, three day long, gasping, rattling, staring, and a truly awful experience. Had that two week period NOT happened, I truly believe she would not have had such an end as she was eating and drinking and partially mobile before this enforced isolation.

At the point my mum died, she was resident number 12 who sadly passed away in that care home.

If you have an interest in this case study please send on your contact details and we will pass on to the family ccftv.cares@gmail.com