Care home nurse struck off for declaring resident dead before he actually died

Get daily news by email

A Wirral care home nurse who pronounced an elderly patient dead before he actually died has been struck off.

Cheryl Marshall, who worked at Benham Nursing and Residential Home in Bromborough , gave up trying to do CPR and wrongly declared the resident dead, a misconduct panel heard.

Paramedics later found a pulse in the patient and took him to hospital where he died some hours later.

Marshall has now been struck off after the tribunal ruled she showed a “lack of basic nursing skills”.

Her shocking blunder came after colleagues found the resident, a Parkinson’s disease sufferer, unresponsive in the lounge after eating.

Marshall told healthcare assistants to put him in a wheelchair and take him to his bedroom.

They objected and said he should be given CPR straight away, but Marshall ordered them to take him to his room.

It took up to five minutes to find a wheelchair to move the patient.

Nursing misconduct hearings

When in his bedroom Marshall did CPR at a rate of five chest compressions per two breaths, when the proper ratio should be 15 to 30 compressions followed by two breaths.

One of her colleagues later took over the CPR but was asked to stop by Marshall who said the patient was already dead.

She did not check vital signs or do a blood pressure reading to confirm this.

Paramedics arrived and discovered the patient had actually choked on a piece of ham. He was made stable and moved to hospital where he later died.

An inquest ruled the resident died of accidental choking and found the way the CPR was carried out did not contribute to his death.

Marshall resigned from her job at Benham Nursing and Residential Home after the death in July 2014 and now has a new job in healthcare.

Banning her from ever working as a nurse again, the Nursing and Midwifery Council said: “Miss Marshall’s failings were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse and are fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the register.”

Benham Nursing and Residential Home made headlines last year when it was rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission . It has since closed. 

Can I avoid my home being sold to pay for care if I buy it with my son?

We would be tenants in common but am wondering if he would have to be living in the property for it to be excluded from means-testing.

A reader wants to ensure their son can live in their jointly owned property if they go into care.

Question

I do not have a partner. I want to purchase a property and hold it as tenants in common with my son to avoid my home being included in means-testing should I need to go into care in the future. As this arrangement seemingly works for married people will it work in my circumstances? And would my son have to live in the property?

If this arrangement would not work for single people then does that mean we are not being given the same rights and opportunities to pass on what we have worked for to our children as those living with a partner?

Answer

If it turns out that you do need to go into long-term care and you ask your local authority to arrange it for you, you will have to hope that they don’t trace the question you have emailed me. If your local authority did find it, they might reach the conclusion that you deliberately deprived yourself of an asset – by making your son joint owner of your property – to avoid having the value of your home included in the financial means test.

In 2016-17, if you have capital of more than £23,250, you are expected to meet the full cost of any long-term placement in a care home. Even if your local authority didn’t decide that you had taken avoidance action, it would still include the value of your half of the property. But rather than using the market value of the property divided by two, your local authority must base its value on the sale value of what’s called your “beneficial interest to a willing buyer”, which could make the valuation lower because finding a buyer willing to go into joint ownership with your son may be hard.

Even so, the value of your beneficial interest could exceed the £23,250 limit so owning your home jointly with your son still wouldn’t help.

Whether you owned it jointly or not, the value of your property would not be included in the means test if then moving into a care home you had a partner and the property was their home as well as yours. The value of your property would also be disregarded if it was the main home of a relative – including sons and daughters – over 60, whose permanent home it was.

Although you may find it unfair to single people, the disregard is intended to ensure that a home jointly resided in does not have to be sold if one of the residents has to go into care. So if the property was genuinely your son’s home and you lived together, and he was over 60 at the time you were means-tested, the value of the property would be disregarded. And provided that your other assets – including cash savings – did not come to more than £23,250 – you would be eligible for help with care home fees.

SOURCE: Virginia Wallis. The Guardian

Older people living with loneliness as 'fear and taboo' prevents them from seeking help

A large number of British people know someone who has experienced or have themselves experienced loneliness, a new survey commissioned by the Campaign to End Loneliness has revealed. 

Some 84 per cent of British people responded saying they felt lonely with 13 per cent admitting they felt lonely ‘all of the time’. The research further revealed that almost two thirds of people (64 per cent) said they know someone who is lonely. 
The report titled, ‘The Missing Million: In Search of the Loneliest in our Communities’ could help commissioners and service providers to identify lonely older people. 
Taboo and stigma surrounding loneliness 

Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness, Marcus Rand commented: “The taboo and stigma around loneliness is stopping vulnerable people from opening up about their situation. This in turn makes it very difficult for local authorities and other support organisations to find the missing million older people who need our help.” 

“The Campaign to End Loneliness has developed a step-by-step guide to help local authorities and stakeholders identify the hidden lonely. The Missing Million: In Search of the Loneliest in our Communities helps commissioners and service providers to identify older people experiencing, or who are at risk of experiencing, loneliness. It will assist frontline workers to better understand and respond to loneliness, and to engage with older people experiencing loneliness. 

Despite the growing number of people affected by loneliness, the research suggests that loneliness is still a taboo subject with 92 per cent of survey participants citing that they thought people are too scared to admit they are lonely. 
The study further revealed that people who feel lonely, fear they will be judged negatively if they admit it. When asked: ‘what do you think people imagine about those who are lonely’, the most common responses by participants included ‘there is something wrong with them’, ‘they are unfriendly’ and ‘it is their fault they are lonely’. 

The Campaign to End Loneliness previously revealed that some 10 per cent of people aged over 65 – more than one million people – feel chronically lonely, all or most of the time. While nearly 80 per cent of GPs report seeing up to five patients a day who say they are lonely. 

Loneliness is everyone's business 

Mr Rand continued: “It is unacceptable that 20 per cent of Local Authority Health and Wellbeing Boards in England still have no written commitment to tackle loneliness in older age. We’re calling for all Boards to make a commitment by the end of the year. Every Local Authority in the country should put in place a clear action plan with measurable targets for reducing loneliness in their local population. 

“If we are to drive lasting change for the better, however, we must make loneliness everyone’s business. We need to create a movement for change that breaks down the stigma of loneliness and addresses it head on, like any other health issue.” 
Councillor Izzi Seccombe from the Local Government Association, said: "Whereas in the past it may have been treated as a trivial matter, loneliness is a serious condition that can severely affect a person's mental and physical well-being, and increase the risk of premature death by 30 per cent. 

"Councils are addressing this through early intervention, with a number of local authorities leading the way in partnership with volunteer and community organisations. 

"Loneliness is an issue that needs our urgent attention, and something that will become an increasingly important public health concern as people live longer lives." There is increasing evidence to suggest that the impact of loneliness on physical and mental health is significant and can cause high blood pressure, increased use or reliance on medication, as well as being linked to an increased risk of developing dementia and depression. 

The health implications of loneliness add to existing pressure felt by the NHS, social care sector and the wider economy, causing people to visit their GP more often and move into a care home earlier or be admitted to A&E departments. 

There are already many schemes in operation for people who feel lonely, including Coffee Mornings, social and activities clubs and Contact the Elderly's tea parties, which allow people to socialise and get out-and-about. 

'The television is my friend' 

Dorothy is 86 later this year, she lost her husband two years ago after spending her time as his sole carer for the past 15 years. She said: “I walk with two sticks so I find it very difficult to get out by myself. I do get lonely sometimes and it’s hard to tell others about how I’m feeling, but the television is my friend. I always keep the television or the radio on to keep me company in the house. 

 “Contact the Elderly’s tea parties have made a huge difference to my life. I greatly appreciate the company, and the chance to get out and see the countryside too. As I don’t have any family nearby I love spending time with the young volunteers, they are all so terribly kind.” 

The Missing Million report aims to draw attention to the growing number of people who are lonely in the UK and the associated stigmas attached loneliness. The report aims to: 

• Help commissioners and service providers develop methods to help identify older people experiencing or at risk of loneliness; 
• Help commissioners and health and care providers to put implement new practice; 
• Help frontline workers to better understand and respond to loneliness and engage older
people experiencing loneliness in constructive dialogue. 

Chief executive of Independent Age, Janet Morrison, added: “It is saddening but unfortunately not surprising to see the level of stigma and negative attitudes towards loneliness, even in some cases blaming the lonely people themselves. We absolutely need to change this and help local authorities and the public realise that being lonely is not a normal or necessary part of growing old. 

"There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you are lonely and there are things that can be done to help reduce loneliness. If all local authorities get on board with the new guide from the Campaign to End Loneliness, that will be a fantastic first step to identifying those that need our help.” 

The Campaign to End Loneliness was established in 2011 and is led by five partner organisations, Age UK Oxfordshire, Independent Age, Manchester City Council, Royal Voluntary Service and Sense. The Campaign works with more than 2,000 supports to combat loneliness in older age.

SOURCE: homecare.c.uk, Ellie Spanswick

Warning

From our 30 year experience, the biggest risks to your elderly parents can be summarised in the following:

To know how to avoid the risks and find out more click HERE to get your free guide because you don't want to fall into the trap of putting your parents at risk