Another safeguarding issue. Need advice please.

[Coulddobetter]

The lift situation at Mum's NH was eventually resolved, but now a different one has come to the fore, and I need some counsel please.

The residents on Mum's first floor use a small conservatory on the first floor as a lounge during the day. It isn't part of the original footprint of the building, and was added on at some point, I assume, to increase occupancy. However the roof leaks, this has been a recurring problem since Mum moved in in the autumn of 2016 and of course I was not apprised of this when I viewed the home prior to Mum moving in. Anyway, with the heavy rain in the north west yesterday and today, the rainwater has been coming in to the extent that this 'lounge' has been closed, so my Mum and the other residents that use the lounge are confined to their rooms, of to the landing area. It is an EMI NH, all residents are in the later stages of dementia, none are mobile, and all have need of airflow cushions, powered by electricity. So, you can see the health and safety issue here for residents.

I have challenged this situation before with the Matron, and I have contacted the Area Manager of the group by phone, and it was raised at the last two relatives meetings I attended last year and assurances were given that maintenance work was going to be carried out. And there was some maintenance work done, but clearly it has not resolved the issue. Moreover, earlier this year when my brother visited on a rainy day, he took photos of the water pooling on the floor, and contacted the owners by email with photographs and the usual assurances that remedial action was imminent. Shortly afterwards scaffolding appeared at the NH, so I was hopeful that they were going to carry out exterior repairs, but it transpired that this was for solar panels to be placed on the roof!!
Do I now contact CQC? I think it intolerable. What does concern me if I do this is the possibility that there might be a backlash of some sort that jeopardises Mum's residency, although as a self funder, I'm sure they wouldn't want to lose out on Mum's fees. Moreover if I get CQC involved they make it clear they do not handle complaints.

 

[canary]

it doesnt seem to me that the owners of that home are taking the problems about maintenance seriously.
As a self-funder maybe you might decide to look for somewhere else.

 

[Coulddobetter]

it doesnt seem to me that the owners of that home are taking the problems about maintenance seriously.
As a self-funder maybe you might decide to look for somewhere else.

Thanks for your thoughts Canary. Really wouldn't want to move my Mum as the care assistants there are very fond of Mum, and it is very close by to me and three siblings who live locally. Also, this was the best EMI NH in the locality when we were viewing less than 18 months ago. Also, don't these Nursing Homes have a duty of care? What of the other residents many of whom don't have family to be their advocates.

 

[Grannie G]

I doubt there are any perfect care home in the UK and really believe we need to weigh up the pros and cons before making a stand.

The home is convenient for you @Coulddobetter and your siblings so your mother must get plenty of family visits.

You are happy with the care she receives from the staff.

You chose the best local home at the time.

Building maintenance is costly. I'm not suggesting you accept the faults you find but do suggest you choose your battles wisely.

 

[carolynp]

This is an extremely difficult situation and I deeply sympathise. I certainly would not move your mother however. Thinking it over I agree with Grannie G about choosing battles. I’d let this one go if you possibly are able to, as I feel you and your brother have made sufficient, proper and timely protests. I doubt any individual complaint is going to have any more effect than what you have already done.

Of course the situation is dire and shouldn’t have arisen. It’s very upsetting for family members. But the residents may quite enjoy the drama. My 100 year old aunt in her CH was never more excited than when there was a recent epidemic of woollen singlet thefts. Think of the two old ladies in Fawlty Towers: sailing along happily while chaos reigned around them.

I don’t mean to sound as though I’m fiddling while Rome burns but in a way I don’t think there’s much alternative to putting the building problems to one side as much as you and your siblings humanly can, and concentrating on the blessing of having such wonderful staff who are devoted to your Mum.

My mother’s initial NH was a long, low sixties building, like an extended bungalow, two to a room, mixed care. Ventilation was not right and it always had a nauseating smell until you got used to it. She was a stroke victim and immobilised. Whenever we were there, an older gentleman called Peter would wander in for a chat, naked head to foot.

But the staff were gorgeous and the residents all felt it was their home. There was a precious atmosphere of everyone mucking in and making the best of a bad job. When Mum transferred to her new, glamorous place, big windows, individual rooms - it was lovely, but the atmosphere was never the same.

I know it must be terribly hard but institutionalised care is always going to be problematic at end of life stage. And it’s the caring angels on the staff who
make it ok.

 

[Coulddobetter]

This is an extremely difficult situation and I deeply sympathise. I certainly would not move your mother however. Thinking it over I agree with Grannie G about choosing battles. I’d let this one go if you possibly are able to, as I feel you and your brother have made sufficient, proper and timely protests. I doubt any individual complaint is going to have any more effect than what you have already done.

Of course the situation is dire and shouldn’t have arisen. It’s very upsetting for family members. But the residents may quite enjoy the drama. My 100 year old aunt in her CH was never more excited than when there was a recent epidemic of woollen singlet thefts. Think of the two old ladies in Fawlty Towers: sailing along happily while chaos reigned around them.

I don’t mean to sound as though I’m fiddling while Rome burns but in a way I don’t think there’s much alternative to putting the building problems to one side as much as you and your siblings humanly can, and concentrating on the blessing of having such wonderful staff who are devoted to your Mum.

My mother’s initial NH was a long, low sixties building, like an extended bungalow, two to a room, mixed care. Ventilation was not right and it always had a nauseating smell until you got used to it. She was a stroke victim and immobilised. Whenever we were there, an older gentleman called Peter would wander in for a chat, naked head to foot.

But the staff were gorgeous and the residents all felt it was their home. There was a precious atmosphere of everyone mucking in and making the best of a bad job. When Mum transferred to her new, glamorous place, big windows, individual rooms - it was lovely, but the atmosphere was never the same.

I know it must be terribly hard but institutionalised care is always going to be problematic at end of life stage. And it’s the caring angels on the staff who
make it ok.

 

[Coulddobetter]

Thank you both for your insights, and for the time being I have not taken any further action. I agree one has to choose one's battles wisely, and no, I don't want to move my Mother to another nursing home, what a prospect, who would? But what a sad state of affairs it is that a relative of a PWD should even have to consider moving them from a setting that hasn't taken measures to fix the leaky roof of a lounge which is where they spend their waking hours. Moreover, I do think that as a community of people with dearly loved relatives suffering this awful illness, that we do have an obligation to hold the care sector to higher standards, if we don't who will? If this was an NHS institution, a hospital, for example, there would perhaps be headlines and much gnashing of teeth, and at the very least, concerns could be referred to PALS, but of course it isn't the NHS, this is the care sector, a very different beast. Much like a tenant who pays their rent in full, and on time, to a dodgy landlord who hasn't carried out the repairs, but who daren't complain for fear of eviction, this is what many relatives of PWD fear about raising legitimate complaints with owners of care homes, that they will be 'served notice'. The CMA in their very recent report into care homes have commented on this as an issue of concern.
Unfortunately, carolynp, the residents haven't enjoyed the 'drama' of it all, as the ones affected, like my Mum, are in the advanced stages of dementia. What it means for them is that they have to stay in their rooms on their own, in their Kirton chairs, and if their room is on the second floor they have to be brought down to the first floor, to sit in the hallway, so hard pressed staff aren't spread even more thinly, not unlike the NHS A&E scenarios at the start of the year,with patients lining the corridors of hospitals, but of course, nowhere near as congested, and certainly not under any media scrutiny.