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Eugene Quigley and Denise McCormack |
MP CALLS FOR PROBE AFTER OAP DEATHS
‘These homes should provide a place of safety for the vulnerable’
JERERMY Corbyn MP has called for an investigation into care homes for the elderly after a coroner criticised nursing standards following a death for the second time in three months.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard yesterday (Thursday) how widow Mary Quigley, 78, died at St Anne’s in Durham Road, a nursing home belonging to the largest not-for-profit care and housing provider in England, the Anchor Trust in March last year.
A preliminary investigation into the care she received showed that out of 15 complaints made by her children Denise McCormack and Eugene Quigley to Islington social care, 10 were upheld.
In December Dr Reid slammed staff at Cheverton Lodge in Upper Holloway for lack of emergency procedures following the death of retired electrician John Jackson in August.
He described the care as not being “adequate, sufficient or effective”.
Mrs Quigley had also been a patient at Cheverton Lodge for several months.
In both cases Islington Council in conjunction with the homes have launched improvement plans, including unannounced visits, to ?warrant a full-scale investigation into the care provided.
“After all, these homes should provide a place of safety and security for very vulnerable people,” said Mr Corbyn.
The court heard that Mrs Quigley, who used a machine to assist her breathing, entered the home on January 30 last year. But after four days she was found with alarmingly low levels of oxygen.
Assistant director of adult social care at the council Jennie Williams said: “She was on a very low level of oxygen and [but for a respiratory nurse] she wouldn’t have survived that episode.”
She added that the standards which she would expect from registered nurses were not met and that the periodical basic observations were not carried out.
Her physiotherapist, Catherine Potter, noted on one occasion that no record had been kept of medical observations, which ought to be carried out every day.
Ms Potter said: “I went to speak to the nursing staff. They weren’t there at the time.”
Outside the court Mrs Quigley’s daughter, Denise McCormack, claimed her mother was a “bag of bones”, adding that she had been allergic to dairy products, but this had not been taken into consideration in her meal plans.
Her son, Eugene, had been looking after his mother in the family home in Tyndale Mansions in Upper Street, prior to her going into care.
Nurses who gave evidence in court spoke of Mrs Quigley’s anxiety and how she would often buzz for assistance.
By early morning on March 1 she was not breathing. A nurse pressed the emergency bell and began to attempt to resuscitate the patient.
Paramedic Denis Wilson was about to perform resuscitation using a needle when he was told that Mrs Quigley had registered to the “end-of-life-plan” and that she would not wish to be resuscitated.
Summing up, Dr Reid said: “There’s nothing that I can conclude that suggests a gross lack of medical attention that contributed to her death.
“I am persuaded that those caring for Mrs Quigley did not recognise the features of the symptoms of her conditions under their care.”
Giving the cause of Mrs Quigley’s death as natural causes, Dr Reid added: “The systematic features of her condition were not always recognised by her carers.”
Anchor Homes have claimed that the post mortem showed she was well-nourished.
Councillor John Gilbert, Executive Member for Health and Social Care at Islington council said that since Mrs Quigley’s death the council had drawn up an action plan with Anchor Homes.
He said: “This includes extra support and close monitoring, staff training and the appointment of a new management team.”
The Commission for Social Care Inspection, which regulates the care home industry has recognised that standards at the home have improved. |
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