Pensioner with dementia sent home in hospital gown

Retired IT expert Terry Dawson, 80, says he was horrified when the taxi arrived at his home carrying his 76-year-old wife Sylvia, stark naked but for a hospital gown and a flimsy cotton shawl.

The distressed grandmother was clutching a carrier bag containing her clothes, handed to her by staff at the A&E Department of Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary.

Bosses at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, have apologised and launched an investigation.

The incident comes after the News & Star revealed the true scale of the problem facing Cumbria’s elderly population.

Nine nine care homes in north and west Cumbria which – in the past six months alone – have been found not to be meeting key basic standards.

The issue of the abuse of the elderly has been labelled a “national shame”.

Cumbria’s MPs warn that continuous cuts to NHS and the county council have led to a “ticking timebomb”.

The incident involving Mrs Dawson is the latest in a series of revelations about poor quality care at the hospital trust as well.

In July, it was placed in special measures after inspectors found evidence of staff shortages, poor equipment maintenance, dirty wards, and substandard care at both the Infirmary and the trust’s hospital in Whitehaven.

Mr Dawson, from Appleby, described how his wife, who was diagnosed with dementia four years ago, was injured in a fall at home on Wednesday morning last week.

She was treated initially by paramedics for a cut to her head, and then taken by ambulance to the A&E Department of the Infirmary.

A few hours later, Mr Dawson had a call from a nurse at the hospital to say a CT scan had confirmed that his wife’s injury was not serious and she could be sent home.

“My clearly distressed wife – stark naked except for a hospital gown and a light wrap – arrived home some time later, sitting in the front seat of a taxi without any escort other than the male driver, who was given the wrong address.

“Fortunately, when we moved recently, we didn’t change our number, so he was able to get in touch to ask for directions.

“Sylvia’s clothes were in a carrier bag which was beside her in the car.”

Mr Dawson said that his wife – vivacious and intelligent before her illness – is unable to hold a conversation and is easily identifiable as somebody with dementia.

The day in question was exceptionally cold, windy and wet, said Mr Dawson, who is staggered by the potential risk hospital staff were prepared to take by subjecting his wife to such a stressful 30-mile trip.

Mr Dawson has nothing but praise for the carer who helps him to look after his wife, and Cumbria Social Services, who contacted the hospital trust about the way in which his wife was sent home.

By Friday morning, Mrs Dawson’s condition had become “comatose,” and social workers agreed that she had to be immediately transferred to a local nursing home. Whether a link exists between Friday’s events and those of Wednesday is a matter of conjecture,” said Mr Dawson.

Despite Social Services asking the trust not to contact him at home because of the trauma his wife had endured, a senior manager there did call him on Friday evening and apologised on behalf of the trust.

Asked how he felt about the events of last week, Mr Dawson, who has lodged a formal complaint with the Care Quality Commission health watchdog, answered: “Resentful, disillusioned and shattered. I was prepared to accept that the medical care my wife received was as good as it should have been but it was the sheer callousness of the way they sent her home – their shipping her off in the nearest cattle wagon they could find.”

Chris Platton, acting director of nursing and quality at the trust, said: “We would like to apologise wholeheartedly to Mr Dawson and to his wife for the very obvious distress caused by her visit to A&E and subsequent journey home last week.

“The circumstances around Mrs Dawson’s discharge from hospital are clearly unacceptable and do not meet the high standards of safe and compassionate care that we aim to provide, especially for our most vulnerable elderly patients.

“As soon as this matter was brought to our attention on Friday we started a full formal investigation.

“Given the nature of the case, we also wanted to make contact with Mr Dawson immediately to express our clear concern.

“We apologise that the timing of this call came at a particularly distressing time.

“We can reassure Mr Dawson that we are fully investigating his wife’s care with us and will be in touch early next week.”

Source News and Star