A furious woman has shared horrifying images of the injuries her dementia-suffering mum suffered when she escaped from a care home in the middle of the night.
Denise Marandola has slammed bosses at Kintyre House Care Home after her mum Catherine, known as irene, was found lying face down on a road in Easter Ross at 2.30am.
The 79-year-old gran and mum-of-four was discovered by police and taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for shockign face and hand injuries by her family.
The incident is now being investigated, but Denise, who had four complaints upheld by the care home watchdog, is now demanding action, reports the Daily Record .
The 51-year-old said: “Mum was found 1.4 miles away. She was on a road with no street lights or pavement and had fallen and couldn’t get up. She was found face down on the road.
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“Mum won’t have had a clue where she was. She must have been cold, frightened and exhausted.
“By this time there was six police cars out looking for her, a sniffer dog was on its way from Inverness and the coastguard had been alerted.
“When mum has what we call a downer she tells us she’s going down to the water to drown herself. The home is right in front of water.
“It doesn’t bear to think about what could have happened to her. The police said she could have been run over where she fell. Its just disgusting and we haven’t had an apology as a family.”
Denise says her mum should have been more closely monitored as she has tried to escape from the home before and disputes the length of time it took to find Catherine.
She said: “We were initially told it was up to 14 minutes until mum was found but when I went back in the next night we were told it was 40 minutes from start to finish.
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She added: “When my mum comes out of her room she only has to take six steps and she’s at the door where she escaped. They haven’t moved her to a different room.”
Catherine, a retired canteen worker, went to live at Kintyre House Care Home almost two years ago when her dementia was not as severe.
Denise says she wanted her mum to be cared for at home but social workers said she would benefit from more specialist care.
The Care Inspectorate investigated four complaints made by the family last year and upheld each one in November, agreeing that Catherine had not been appropriately supported when in distress or given the appropriate support with regard to her personal care, hydration and diet.
In its report, the Care Commission said: “The service should revisit assessment and care planning for people who live in the care home whose needs are variable.
“The manager should undertake robust auditing of care plans to ensure staff are supporting people holistically and appropriate actions are taken if not.”
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Denise said the home has now stated that they will no longer be able to care for the pensioner between the hours of 8am and 8pm due to her needs and the family were waiting for another home to become available for Catherine when Sunday’s incident took place.
Denise said: “They accepted my mum as a patient knowing she had vascular dementia and how the condition progresses. They have a duty of care to my mum to look after her for 24 hours.
“My mum’s dementia two years ago was nowhere near as bad.
“The place is diabolical. It should be shut down.
“I want people to see what’s going on behind these doors.
“My mum could have been killed on that road and it just shouldn’t have happened.”
Kintyre House is currently operated by Gate Healthcare Limited, which was previously acquired by Dundee-based Lorimer Care Homes.
A statement from Lorimer Care Homes said: “We are very sorry that this incident occurred. All stakeholders have been informed and the matter is being fully investigated.
“Until this investigation is complete, and we have shared the findings with the family and the stakeholders, we are unable to make any further comment.”
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