The heartbroken family of an 87-year-old woman is seeking an inquest into her death after an NHS investigation uncovered a catalogue of errors in her care.
he daughter of Iris Hull has vowed to continue her fight for answers after the Belfast Trust said it could not determine what happened to her mum before she was found with a head injury after catching Covid-19 and falling at a failing north Belfast care home.
The trust also found “no evidence” to suggest the fall or the Covid-19 infection diagnosed on the day of her fall “directly contributed” to her death on August 12 last year. This is despite the fact Covid-19 is included as a contributory factor on her death certificate.
In a further astonishing claim, the Belfast Trust said it was unaware of infection control failings at Clifton Nursing Home due to a delay in being notified by the Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).
Yet, in an email sent in November 2019, the former chief executive of the trust said officials had been “working collaboratively” with the RQIA and Clifton Nursing Home over the previous 18-months to address concerns about the home.
He continued: “Please be assured that the Belfast Trust maintains regular contact with RQIA regarding regulatory and care quality concerns in Clifton House.”
Mrs Hull’s daughter, Shirell, said: “We have more questions than answers after getting the findings of the Belfast Trust investigation.
“There were red flags about Clifton Nursing Home for years, everyone knew about them, but we weren’t told. So many mistakes were made in mum’s care, she is a victim of those failings and I’m sure she isn’t the only one.
“I’m extremely alarmed by the Belfast Trust investigation so we’re calling for an inquest and I also believe a full public inquiry is the only way families will get the truth of what happened in care homes at the start of the pandemic.”
Mrs Hull was awaiting assessment for dementia when she was admitted to Belfast City Hospital on February 20 last year with urosepsis and delirium. While she was an inpatient, she fractured her wrist in an unwitnessed fall. As a result, a decision was made to place her in a care home for assessment prior to returning home.
Hospital notes show that on March 15, she was “confused, anxious and restless”, and two days later she required one to one supervision. She also displayed “exit seeking behaviours”.
Despite this, she was discharged to Cregagh Nursing Home, which was not registered to provide care to people with dementia or delirium and could not provide a secure environment and was on a main road.
A decision was made to move her to another home after it was decided Mrs Hull “could not be safely managed” in Cregagh Nursing Home.
However, the trust investigation said alternative care home places were limited due to Mrs Hull having no formal dementia diagnosis, the impact on the pandemic on nursing homes and her diagnosis of delirium.
She was subsequently offered a place at Clifton Nursing Home, which has since been renamed City View Court, and moved there on April 6.
The Public Health Agency declared a Covid-19 outbreak at the home on April 23.
The trust investigation said Mrs Hull “developed Covid-19 as part” of the outbreak and “she became unwell which would have increased her risk of falls”.
It also said Mrs Hull “experienced a poor discharge from Belfast City Hospital in that she was inappropriately placed in Cregagh Nursing Home”, which the trust said “caused distress to both Mrs Hull and her family”.
The probe also found it likely that Mrs Hull suffered a bleed on her brain, which “raises the possibility” this caused her fall at Clifton Nursing Home.
However, further questions have been raised after the trust report said, “there were no records of the safety checks reported to be undertaken with Mrs Hull due to her risk of falling” and it wasn’t “possible to confirm the last time staff observed Mrs Hull before the fall, establish the time she fell or how long she was lying on the floor before she was found”.
Shirell continued: “No-one seems to know who was the last person to see my mum before her fall, the home lost all her records.
“I’d very much like to speak to them but when I asked the trust about whether they had interviewed staff, they just said a lot of people had moved on and it would be hard to track them down. As far as I know, mum should have been checked every 15 minutes because of her fall risk, but we’ve been told she was given dinner at 5pm and found at 5.33pm.
“We also know she needed help to eat, so did they just put the tray of food in her room and leave her to her own devices? This investigation report is just the latest slap in the face – the trust originally sent it to my mum’s old address and when we got it, the envelope had been ripped open and sealed again.
“It makes me sick to think someone else read the report before we did. The trust even got the date of my original complaint wrong on the cover letter. If they can’t get basic details like that correct, it makes me question the whole process.”
A spokesman for the Belfast Trust said he could not comment due to a separate investigation launched following the Covid-19 outbreak at Clifton Nursing Home. The RQIA and Runwood Homes, which owned Clifton Nursing Home last year, have been contacted for comment.
