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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Joel Moore

Family 'horrified' as mum with dementia found with feet covered in dirt at Worksop care home

A family have said they are "horrified" by the treatment of their mum at a Worksop care home, after finding her lying in bed with her feet covered in dirt.

Paula Yarnall, of Nottingham, accused Forest Hill Care Home of neglect after the alleged mistreatment of Anne, 74, who suffers with dementia.

The care home has apologised and says two staff members have been suspended pending an investigation.

Anne was taken to the care home, which has an 'outstanding' rating by watchdogs CQC, in January last year, however, Ms Yarnall said problems began to arise "within weeks."

"I've been in communication with the home about problems for the last 13 months," the 51-year-old told Nottinghamshire Live.

"When I would visit my mum I would problems with cleanliness when she was presented at the glass screen."

She said when her sister, Deborah, found Anne with blackened feet on February 14, it was the "last straw".

"I was horrified. As she has dementia, she would have continued with feet like that without even knowing. I wanted to make sure my mum was alright at first, then I rang the home."

After Anne was found, her granddaughter, Laura, shared an image on Instagram accompanied by a message from her dad and Anne's son - Graham.

The post accuses the management of Forest Hill Care Home of being "utterly, utterly incompetent" and was liked more than 14,000 times.

A spokesperson for Barchester Homes, which runs Forest Hill, said they had expressed their "sincere apologies" to the family and has suspended two members of staff pending an investigation.

"Our senior team has visited the home and has reviewed cleaning procedures and care plans, and the team have been fully briefed on what is needed," they said.

"The local CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group), local authority and social workers also visited the home.

"We cannot comment in detail but we can say that given the complexity of this case, some of the claims should be taken in context of the impetus on the home to respect each resident’s own wishes.

"However we are taking this extremely seriously and we will do everything possible to ensure this is addressed in full and never happens again.”

Ms Yarnall said that whilst the manager was "apologetic", all the family had got were "cover ups and excuses".

"It makes it sound like it's my mum's fault she chose to walk about," She said.

Anne (right) with her daughter Deborah (supplied)

Anne is still in the home, at a cost of £800 per week, but her family are trying to move her as soon as possible.

"We're trying to let her move but it's not straight forward, she's got complex needs and Covid is making it harder," added Ms Yarnall.

"It's concerning [that she's still in the home], I don't feel that she is safe and I can't just leave her there."

Kate Terroni, chief inspector of adult social care at CQC told Nottinghamshire Live that they had been made aware of the concerns.

"We take all concerns of this nature very seriously and we are taking regulatory action at this service to ensure people are safe," she said.

"An inspection is underway and the report will publish on our website in due course."

A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire County Council said that a team from their adult and social care department had visited within 24 hours of the report to review the service.

A spokesperson for Bassetlaw CCG added: “The CCG is aware of the issues at Forest Hill Care Home and is working closely with Nottinghamshire County Council, Forest Hill Care Home and the CQC to address any areas of concern and to ensure the residents are safe and being well cared for during this time.”

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