Wakefield care home firm ‘deeply sorry’ after resident found ‘soaked in urine’ dies

The woman died of pneumonia in hospital days after being found “soaked” in her room by her family at Lofthouse Grange Care Home in Wakefield, according to a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Orchard Care Homes, which runs Lofthouse Grange, has apologised and insisted it’s since put in place new measures to prevent a repeat.

The woman’s family accused the home of neglect and claimed the incident would “not have helped” their mum’s health, the Ombudsman’s report, which was published last week, said.

The watchdog, which rules on complaints against councils and care providers, told how Lofthouse Grange had admitted multiple failings with its service.

These included staff putting nicotine patches on the woman’s chest, despite knowing she was suffering from breast cancer.

It also admitted failing to “provide appropriate continence care” which resulted in the anonymous resident lying in her own urine.

The provider also acknowledged it had “either failed to tell the family of a GP visit or failed to properly record it had told them”. The patient’s daughter had claimed the home had failed to give a GP a full picture of her mum’s health when she was suffering from breathing difficulties, resulting in the doctor’s visit being delayed, the report said.

A spokesperson for Orchard Care Homes said: “The wellbeing and dignity of people within our care is always of paramount importance.

“After a full internal investigation into this incident, procedures have been thoroughly reviewed and measures put in place to ensure this never happens again.

“We are deeply sorry that our usual standards were not met during this isolated incident, and we will continue to strive to ensure that our 100 per cent ‘good’ CQC standard across our homes is continuously met.”