Care home ‘neglect’ caused death of ‘loving and caring’ mother and grandmother, according to law

A “loving and caring” mother and grandmother would not have died “but for the neglect of the home” she lived in, a coroner has ruled. Anna Ptackova died after a pressure sore, also known as a sacral ulcer, which she developed while living at Dane View Nursing Home, became septic.

She was taken from her Leicester home to hospital on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, after a nurse suspected she had developed sepsis from the ulcer, the Nelsons’ lawyers said. However, doctors at the hospital told the family, including her daughter Martina Hanouskova, that Ms Ptackova was not feeling well enough to undergo surgery.

Doctors thought the infection had probably spread to the bone. She was treated with antibiotics for sepsis and fluids for dehydration, the firm said.

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Ms. Ptackova’s condition deteriorated and she died on Friday, January 20. Her cause of death was listed as sepsis, fourth-degree sacral ulcer and underlying Huntington’s disease, Nelsons added.

Speaking on behalf of her family, Ms Hanouskova remembered her mother as “fun, loving and caring”. She said: “Even when Mum was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, she put her faith in the doctors and that didn’t change her positive outlook on life – she never complained and still enjoyed her favorite things.

“She was fun loving and caring, loved traveling and music and most of all spending time with her family. Life wasn’t always easy for Mom, but she smiled every day, worked hard, and did so much to make us all happy. She left us with memories we will cherish forever.”

A spokesman for Dane View offered the home’s “deepest apologies” to the family “for the shortcomings” in Ms Ptackova’s care and “for the distress this has caused”. He added that the house “has taken significant steps to ensure that such an incident never happens again”.

Ms Hanouskova said she found out about the wound on Tuesday, December 26, 2022, when she visited the home, on Glenfield Road in the city, after spending “a few hours trying to get on the phone” to see if her mother could spend anything. time spent at home with family. She said she was then told her mother could not leave because of the “severity” of the injury. Ms. Hanouskova said that this was the first she had heard of the ulcer, despite having visited her on both previous days.

She visited her mother every day after this and became concerned that she seemed to have become extremely ill and dehydrated. On the day Ms Ptackova was taken to hospital, Ms Hanouskova said her mother was in “extreme levels of pain” but was not given pain relief despite having a prescription for Paracetamol. She also questioned why body charts were not completed and no one at Dane View monitored food and fluids for her mother.

An inquest into the circumstances of Ms Ptackova’s death concluded last week. The coroner highlighted several failures in her care at Dane View, which overall “amounted to gross failure” on the part of the home, Nelsons said.

These included staff at the home not providing Ms Ptackova with enough food or fluids, not changing her pressure sore dressings “as they should”, increasing the risk of sepsis and not completing “initial or ongoing assessments of the risk level for pressure sores”. Nelsons said. There was evidence that Ms Ptackova was not repositioned every two hours as she should have been to relieve pressure on her skin, the firm added.

Ms Hanouska added: “Losing my beloved mother in this way has been extremely upsetting and heartbreaking for our family. While I made frequent visits and voiced my concerns during my mother’s care, hearing about Dane View’s neglect and failures was far worse than I could have imagined.

“Providing or finding care for a loved one is so difficult; you put your trust in people to not only make sure your family is taken care of, but you’ll be kept informed if things change. This was not the case with my mother or the rest of my family.

“Even though I visited several times, I still could not find out the truth and many times I felt ignored. In all the time Mum was at Dane View, her care plan was not updated once, meaning they could not meet her needs properly. This is meant to be done monthly and weekly for more fragile people.

“It’s so important to give a voice to the vulnerable and make sure someone speaks for them when they can’t do it themselves. It is not enough to act when a safeguarding problem is reported – there needs to be regular checks and regular updates for families, and more people need to be aware of the risks to know when there is a serious problem.

“I hope lessons are learned from this and no one has to go through what I experienced.”

Matthew Olner, partner and clinical negligence specialist at Nelsons, said: “This decision comes 18 months after Anna’s death, at an incredibly difficult time for Martina and her family as they search for answers. The standard of care for Anna fell far below what was expected and what Anna deserved, and I commend Martina for her courage to attend the inquest and have had to share her experience in court.

“The inquest highlighted serious failings at Dane View Nursing Home and indeed that Anna’s death was equally contributed to by negligence. While this brings little comfort to Martina and her family, this is an important finding that holds people accountable and I hope to see changes made as a result.

“Martina used her voice to speak when her mother couldn’t and has continued to do so throughout this process and I hope she can now find some peace and remember happier times together by her family and loved ones.”

A spokesman for Dane View said: “Dane View Nursing Home offers its deepest apologies to Anna’s family for the failings in her care and the distress it has caused. In response, since Anna’s death in January 2023, we have taken significant steps to ensure that such an incident never happens again.

“In court, the coroner confirmed that he did not need any further assurances in this regard. We have appointed a Group Quality and Governance Manager and a Group Operations Manager who, over the past 10 months, have worked closely with our registered manager and their team to implement strong change.

“In addition, we worked with Leicester City Council’s MAIPP team, going through a thorough period of quality monitoring and improvement. Dane View is fully committed to improving the care and support we provide and we will continue to prioritize these improvements.”