Leicester: Care home ‘neglect’ leads to grandmother’s death

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 has died aged 66 after a pressure sore she developed while living at Dane View Nursing Home in Leicester became septic.

She was taken from home to hospital on January 3, 2023, after a nurse suspected she had developed sepsis from the ulcer.

Ms Ptackova’s condition deteriorated and she died on January 20, with the home offering its “deepest apologies” to the family “for the shortcomings” in her care.

The coroner highlighted several failings in her care at Dane View, which overall “amounted to a serious failure” on the part of the home, according to Nelsons Solicitors, who are representing the family.

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.

Ms. Ptackova’s cause of death was listed as sepsis, a fourth-degree sacral ulcer (also known as a decubitus ulcer) and her 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.

“He left us with memories that we will cherish forever.”

A spokesman for Dane View said the home “has taken significant steps to ensure that such an incident never happens again”.