Woman, 92, with dementia sedated to stop her wandering says nephew

Kathleen (Kath) Hines died at Ledbury Nursing Home on August 7 last year and her nephew, who has lodged an official complaint with the home, says serious mistakes were made with her care. 

The 92-year-old, previously of Pound Meadow, Ledbury had been admitted to the home on November 26, 2019. The former BT telephonist and nanny, who was 'very religious' and 'popular' with 'a strong sense of right and wrong' died as a result of her dementia with a secondary cause of skin cancer. 

CONCERN: Chris Hines shared his concerns with staff at Ledbury Nursing Home, recorded in these notes (Image: Chris Hines)

Before she died her 51-year-old nephew, Chris Hines, became aware that she was falling asleep more often in March 2021 during regular Skype calls with her during lockdown.

Mr Hines said: "It seemed strange to me that she should doze off in the middle of a chat in the morning, so I phoned the home to find out what was going on.

"The nurse I spoke to advised that if was because of the Zopiclone she had been given.

I phoned in and asked why she had been given the Zopiclone and was told that it was because she was “walking around at night”."

ANGUISH: Kath Hines' leg was infested with maggots at Ledbury Nursing Home says her nephew who took this photo (Image: Chris Hines)

Mr Hines called this 'chemical restraint' and has raised concerns with the home that this is a deprivation of liberties and maintains they had no right to do this without consulting him, her lasting power of attorney. However, the home says its duty was to fulfil the GPs medical advice by collecting and administering the medication which 'we did in the case of Ms Hines'.

He added: "A further conversation with the home revealed that some 2-3 months after Kath was given Zopiclone at an initial dose of 3.25mg, the dosage was raised to 7.5mg. This is the maximum dosage that can be prescribed and would be sufficient to put me, an adult male, on my back, let alone a 90 year-old who weighs only about 50kg. 

"Just to clarify, Ledbury Nursing Home should have been just that - her home, and she was paying nearly £4,000 a month for it to be that. She was perfectly entitled to walk around at night if that’s what she wanted to.

"Shaw Healthcare’s job was to facilitate her wakefulness, to make sure she was safe and happy while she was awake. Their job was not to drug her into oblivion so they did not have to provide a proper number of staff.

"Soon afterwards - the following day I think - I spoke to Safeguarding, DoLS and the CQC and they did help me put a stop to it. Or so I thought. I gave verbal instruction that Kath was not to be given Zopiclone any more. However, the MAR charts that were (eventually) obtained through a subject access request show that even after they were told not to use it, they still persisted in giving it to her albeit at a more intermittent rate."

He has also told them prescription guidelines for Zopiclone state it should be given for no more than four weeks, including a tapering off period to minimise withdrawal - it is highly addictive.

He said: "But a final blow came just a few weeks before Kath passed away when I received a phone call at work from the home, to inform me that Kath had maggots in her skin cancer. I mentioned this to many medical professionals and to a person, they are horrified. That this can have been allowed to happen in a clinical setting is beyond belief."

A spokesperson for Ledbury Nursing Home said: “Medication for residents is prescribed by GPs based on their professional assessments. Our duty is to fulfil the GPs medical advice by collecting and administering the medication which we did in the case of Ms Hines.

“Wound management requires the affected area to be exposed and covered at various stages to assist with the healing process and regular assessments of the wound are carried out by qualified nurses. During one of these regular checks a nurse spotted an issue with the wound and immediately cleaned and dressed the wound, and reported the incident to the Council’s safeguarding unit in line with care industry guidelines. We appreciate how awful it sounds and wish that it could have been prevented but maggots being spotted in wounds is something that is not completely unavoidable, especially during a heatwave where eggs can initially avoid visible inspection and hatch within 12 hours. The independent safeguarding investigation confirmed that we had quickly and effectively dealt with the situation.”

“We provided the above information to Mr Hines in 2022 and apologised for any upset caused.”