Care Opinion

Death of sister with home care

Posted By Lorni

"Death of sister with home care"

About: South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership

(as a relative),

I feel I need to tell my story of the death of my sister while receiving home care that was commissioned by SLC health and social care partnership. 

A private company was commissioned as there was no capacity within social work to provide this care to my severely disabled sister who suffered from myotonic dystrophy. 

The reason I feel the need to share this story is so that the same thing does not happen to another family. 

My sister was being fed by the carer ( company had been advised she had a problem with choking and swallowing due to the condition). She choked and carer ran next door to elderly neighbour for help but by this time she had suffered cardiac arrest. 

The neighbour did  CPR as carers from this company appear not to be trained in CPR which I find not acceptable in this kind of job. 

The neighbour managed to get her breathing until ambulance arrived where she was taken to Wishaw General Hospital where I was informed it was end of life care as she was brain damaged due to the fact she had been starved of oxygen due to fact of time taken to give her help. 

I have to say that the care she received at Wishaw General from all the staff was very good and the consultant who gave me the sad news did it in a very professional and caring manner. My sister's carers were cut to one at the main meal time due to fact her meal times could not have been at the same time each day had she still had two attending hence I think the carer feeding her panicked as she was alone. I feel when social work commission private companies these companies should have staff fully trained for emergencies like this as the people they care for are usually very vulnerable adults. 

I contacted social work who have informed me they would have done an AP1 had she survived. 

This has left me devastated in the way my sister died as no one has ever attempted to contact me regarding discussing the incident. 

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Scott McNeill, Service Manager, South Lanarkshire Health & Social Care Partnership 9 months ago
Scott McNeill
Service Manager,
South Lanarkshire Health & Social Care Partnership

Submitted on 28/05/2024 at 17:47
Published on Care Opinion on 29/05/2024 at 08:09

Dear Lorni,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and please accept our condolences in relation to the passing of your sister and the tragic circumstances surrounding this.

My sincere apologies that you have not been contacted by South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership since the passing of your sister. I would be keen to discuss your experience in further detail and would be grateful if you could share your contact details to enable me to organise a time to do that. I can be contacted via the email address or phone number below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Scott McNeill

Service Manager (Registered Care at Home Services)

South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership

Phone: 07384 918719

Email: scott.mcneill@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Lorni (a relative)

Update to my post I received contact and then a phone call from mr mcneill who was very nice and is going to update me on events once he has checked all that happened. I’m hoping a learning review can be done by Adult protection Committee due to the severe disability of my sister so that another family doesn’t have to suffer.

Response from Anne Broderick, Fieldwork Manager, Adults and Older Person Social Work, South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership 3 months ago
We have made a change
Anne Broderick
Fieldwork Manager, Adults and Older Person Social Work,
South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership

Submitted on 20/11/2024 at 10:06
Published on Care Opinion at 13:06

Dear Lorni,

Thank you for the time you have taken over the last few months to explain to me your concerns over your sister’s care, and how you felt following her death. I valued your honesty and openness in speaking about you and your sister’s experiences. As we have discussed, I have worked closely with our provider to conduct a joint learning and reflection review in relation to your sister’s care and your experience following her death.

On behalf of South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership, I wholeheartedly apologise for our failure to contact you following your sister’s death. I also commit that the joint learning that we discussed will be actioned, in order to ensure that services improve for all people supported through Social Work within South Lanarkshire.

Thank you for using Care Opinion, and ensuring that your voice was heard and that your experiences contributed to improved practices.

Yours sincerely,

Anne Broderick

Fieldwork Manager

Adults and Older Person Social Work

South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k