The failings of a care home, GP practice and council may have gone unnoticed but for the determination of a woman whose mother went a month with a broken hip before being taken to hospital, an NHS watchdog has said.
Healthwatch Hillingdon, which helped Angela Kelly investigate her mother's care, said "the system" may have prevented less motivated complainants from ever finding the truth.
Miss Kelly spent three years fighting to find out what had happened to her 77-year-old mother, Monica O'Donnell, taking her case to NHS England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), MP Sir John Randall, Hillingdon Council and the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).
The LGO has now published a report, finding that Parkfield House Nursing Home, in Charville Lane West, Uxbridge, failed to tell GPs of Mrs O'Donnell's falls and doctored records while under investigation.
The report also found that GPs at Oakland Medical Centre, in Parkway, Uxbridge, should have been more suspicious, while the council failed to properly investigate.
Healthwatch Hillingdon CEO Graham Hawkes said: “We are grateful for the determination, courage and dignity shown by Miss Kelly in getting to the truth of what happened with her mother’s care in her final months in a Hillingdon nursing home, without which it is unlikely that the truth would ever have come to light.
“It is disappointing that specialised advocacy support for adult safeguarding investigations is not available to residents of Hillingdon. In Miss Kelly’s case, it really was the individual pitted against 'the system', and this is a very intimidating environment which many people would find absolutely overwhelming.
“Sadly the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO)/Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) official report into this case catalogues a wide range of failings by all the organisations involved. We could argue that the recommendations made in this report do not go far enough, but it is important that lessons are learnt to ensure that vulnerable adults are protected from avoidable harm.”
The council, which funded Mrs O'Donnell's care, closed its initial investigation after concluding that the nursing home had acted appropriately, but Miss Kelly refused to give up.
Miss Kelly, 51, of Beverley Road, Ruislip, said she felt the complaints process was "100% designed to put you off", adding: "It was like even to the last all they [the council] were concerned about was themselves. They didn't want to look at what was true."
The care home, GP practice and council were told to apologise and pay Miss Kelly £1,000, £750 and £500 respectively.
The council issued a statement saying that the care home had undergone a management change and improvements were still being made.
When contacted by getwestlondon last week, both Halton Services Ltd, which runs the care home, and Oakland Medical Centre declined to comment.
If you or someone you know has experienced poor care in a nursing or care home, contact Healthwatch Hillingdon on 01895 272997, or email office@healthwatchhillingdon.org.uk.
