EXCLUSIVE: Council Carry Out Investigation After Dementia Pensioner Abused Twice At Romford Care Home They Referred Her To.

A Hornchurch man has hit out at Havering Council Social Services after his 85 year old mother was abused on two separate occasions by the homecare providers who were supposed to be looking after her.

Mrs Glenys Brazier of Bennison Drive, Harold Wood, an 85-year-old living by herself, was abused on at least two separate occasions, by Homestead Care Services, the very company who were supposed to be looking after her, and Havering Council Social Services who repeatedly failed to do anything about it. In fact, it was Homestead Care Services who were initially referred by Havering Council as the service provider to look after her, and not only was Havering Council paying for this inadequate service, but so too was Mrs. Brazier by over £800 a week. 

Suffering from full blown Alzheimer’s and dementia, Mrs. Brazier was totally reliant on the care and support that should have come from the homecare services. Sadly, this was not provided, in fact, she was abused, badly treated and after countless complaints from her son, the care agency was eventually investigated by Havering Council.

Her son David has spoken exclusively to the Havering Daily about the shocking treatment his 85 year old mother received including leaving her in the dark in her room alone.

“It took 14 months to get a final response from Havering Council (from July 2021 to November 2022) after my initial complaint to the Havering Safeguarding Team. Essentially, it took this length of time to explain from Havering Council Social Services that nothing of any substance had been done to remediate or discipline Homestead Care Services (HCS), no action had been taken, even though the two most prolific cases, actually proven by Havering Council Social Services themselves, admitting repeated neglect of this old vulnerable person.

“The two incidents make for grim and sad reading, running contrary to the ‘duties and powers to meet needs for care and support’ under The UK Care Act of 2014’. Indeed, Homestead Care Services (HCS), as a domicile care service, carried out, twice, proven derelictions of duties and abuse, as a deliberate failure to do what they should have done as part of their job description/legal contract. Moreover, these cases were not isolated, rather these formed a pattern, an extensive catalogue of sustained and persistent mistreatment, it is just that these two cases were the most obvious and that, unluckily for HCS, were captured on CCTV.”

David is rightly very angry at the way his mother was treated and the lack of care shown towards her, he describes the two incidents of abuse Mrs Brazier suffered.

“The first incident occurred on Thursday 2 April 2020. The carer throws the nappy towards my mother, being verbally abusive, and then shuts off the light, leaving her in complete darkness, left sitting precariously on the edge of her bed. She could have had a bad fall as a result, if she tried to move in complete darkness from being left in a sitting and dangerous, unstable position. Regrettably, the same carer returned on 24 May 2020 despite assurances that she would not, another example of negligent conduct by HCS, the same carer that had previously put this her into jeopardy and an unsafe situation, causing her to feel stressed and panicked that she might repeat her abusive behaviour.

“The second incident took place on 2 January 2021, my mother was left in a position where she was unable to move for over five hours by Homestead Care Services, sitting in her own mess, and on the guidance of their on-call supervisor. As a result of this incident, she required physical therapy to recuperate as well as extra support as she has suffered physically as a result of being stranded in the same position for such a long time. In addition, she was left in an unsafe position whereby should she have tried to get up, she would have hurt herself badly because of the nappy around her knees that restricted her movement.

“Since this sad incident caused her to need extra care, personal intervention was needed to make up this care, from 2 January 2021 Homestead carers were assisted every morning call by a family friend with regards to all aspects of the Careplan, and every bedtime call likewise with the Careplan; also, every mid afternoon mum was cleaned, changed and groomed by a family friend. In fact, most of what Homestead carers did during lunch and teatime calls since 2 January 2021 was to only provide food and give a drink to prevent dehydration. Indeed, who knows what might have happened to her if additional care with family and friends had not been arranged. The second incident is another example of negligent conduct by the carer because of which my mum suffered physically and required weeks of physical therapy and continued additional support to recuperate.”

David finished by saying: “It is such a shame that after all that has occurred, a failure to act has meant that these cases, and they are not isolated, have gone without any form of punishment or reimbursement.”

 The Havering Daily has been informed recently that two key staff with HCS have handed in their notice only this week and new carers are being employed, with little scrutiny being paid to their suitability. 

In response Havering Council have issued the following statement.

A Havering Council spokesperson said:

“We were deeply saddened to hear about the incidents involving Mrs Brazier and the distress caused to her and her family. This is not the level of care we expect and want.

“We have carried out a thorough investigation, which concluded in late 2021, and a number of recommendations were made including using disciplinary action against the staff to ensure other clients are not at risk, making sure there are checks on the quality of care given to clients with dementia or who live alone, and additional staff training.

“We also spoke to other residents who were happy with the care they were receiving, and we’re satisfied that the home care agency has made, and will carry on making, the improvements identified.

“Mrs Brazier’s son corresponded with us throughout 2022, as he was not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation. He formally complained to us in December 2022, which we’ve responded to.

“He has also been asked to provide details of other residents he says are at risk, and has not done so.

“We will continue to monitor the agency, however, it’s not in our power to close any home care agency, this would be a matter for the Care Quality Commission.”

A spokesperson for Homestead Care told the Havering Daily:

“We at Homestead Care take our responsibility for the safety and well-being of our clients extremely seriously.

 “Following the incidents, a thorough investigation was carried out by Havering Council, concluded in late 2021.   We fully co-operated with the investigation and have implemented all recommendations including additional training and support for our staff to ensure best practice and to help prevent future incidents.

 “We continue to work closely with Havering Council and remain committed to providing quality, safe care in Havering.”

CCTV footage of Mrs Brazier being left in the dark despite being an 85 year old with full blown dementia. She was left sitting on the bed on her own and in total darkness.

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