South Lanarkshire

My mum died within her care home in Nov 2020.

Before lockdown we went out daily to shops, hairdressers or my home for lunch , she was independently mobile.
She was my world, my best friend and my rock.

There were many care issues throughout the whole of lockdown which were never resolved eg staff failing to provide support with hearing aids and at mealtimes. My mum lost 11.2% of her body weight and it was incumbent on me to contact dietician . Her weight loss should have prompted an automatic referral .

Week beginning 09/11/20 I noticed a drastic change in my mum. Staff told me she wasn’t eating and unable to swallow her medication and she was slumping over during our calls which was uncharacteristic. Again it was incumbent on me to contact Doctor and I raised end of life concerns . The Doctor phoned the care home who stated “not imminent” and “nothing acute”. The Doctor arranged for a nurse to attend for bloods and I later found out the nurse was refused access.

The Doctor attended on 13/11/20 and reassured me that my mum was not at end of life .

My relief was short lived as my mum died 48 hours later. My mum tested positive for Covid on 14/11/20 and died 15/11/20 and it states 2 days illness in her death certificate which I strongly dispute.

My mum died alone and did not access any medical care or end if life or palliative care. She lived in a local authority care home . I raised complaints but was told she received good care and my complaints were not upheld.

The Care Inspectorate initially did not wish to be involved and refused to investigate same concerns. Their report is full of flaws and holes and inconsistent information. It has become incumbent on me to carry out my own investigation and submit subject access requests. I learned that NHS24 told carer that based on my mum’s condition she should be admitted to hospital . This information was not shared with family or actioned. There is a key information summary in my mum’s medical notes stating preferred place of care and death to be care home and not for admission . This was recorded without consent or knowledge of family. There has been no transparency and important information which impacted on my mum’s safety and care concealed. I was told the 1st outbreak in the home did not affect my mum’s unit. I later learned from public health that staff had tested positive across all 4 units.

Staff displayed petty behaviours and hostilities and dismissive towards me.. I was excluded from pertinent family emails and unaware of ongoing window visits between March and June 2020.

My mum’s jewellery watch and bracelet were never returned to family . My mum wore the bracelet 24/7 and was unable to take it off by herself due to small clasp. She would have been very distressed if aware of someone removing this item.

I have received my mum’s medical records and there is a whole host of inaccurate and misleading information given to clinicians and doctors on the day she died including advising she had a chest infection and no worse since started antibiotics 2 days ago . None of this information is accurate . Inconsistent oxygen levels have been provided and the Dr in the covid hub concluded that low levels were likely to be positional. Staff minimised my mum’s condition and her vitals were not monitored until the day she died.

I recently received correspondence from Ambulance services and learned that my mum had been categorised as an emergency. An ambulance failed to attend prior to my mum’s death. The Care Inspectorate did not uphold anything Covid related . I asked for a review but they have not engaged with me and I have been referred to the Ombudsman.

I have been unable to get to the bottom of all the issues I identified and no one wishes to become involved. I am left in the knowledge of what happened to my mum . The reports are full of holes ,I dispute many comments ,my questions remain unanswered and I have been met with barriers and brick walls.

In addition extremely wounding comments have been directed towards my mum who has been blamed for matters which were upheld. I do not feel I can grieve properly for my mum. Her courage, strength and dignity never left her 💛