Sutton Bridge woman ‘starved in care home’
An elderly dementia patient from Sutton Bridge died because staff at a care home did not give her sufficient food, a jury at Lincoln Crown Court was told on Wednesday.
Edna Barnes, 82, was allegedly given little more than one-tenth of the daily food and drink needed for an adult woman to survive during here time at the Adderley Care Home at Long Sutton.
Felicity Gerry, prosecuting, told the jury that staff at the care home were too busy concentrating on their own Christmas preparations and Mrs Barnes, a grandmother and a mother of eight whose home was in Sutton Bridge, deteriorated rapidly during her stay.
She was admitted to Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, with severe dehydration and passed away four days later on December31, 2008.
Mrs Barnes was able to consume pureed food and liquids but records from the home indicated she was given as little as 275mls of fluid intake a day when an adult woman needed between 2,500 and 3,000 mls.
Miss Gerry said: “The amount she was given was obviously inadequate. It was not very much at all.
“It is no coincidence that this neglect took place around Christmas. You may think that Christmas and holidays were prioritised over patient care.”
Mrs Barnes needed one-to-one feeding which would take up to an hour per meal but the health authorities provided extra funding to pay for additional staff time.
However the jury was told there was no evidence the care home had claimed the additional money.
The manager and assistant manager of the care home, together with two nursing staff, are accused of wilful neglect.
Miss Gerry said: “This is not merely negligence but a wilful failure by senior staff who failed to properly supervise and manage Mrs Barnes’ care. There was a dreadful lack of supervision.”
Miss Gerry said Mrs Barnes was “lively and mobile” but needing supervision at eating and drinking when she was transferred to the home from a hospital unit.
“She could walk small distances with a carer. It wasn’t contemplated she would be bed-ridden.”
The prosecutor said that within days of admission Mrs Barnes was noticed as being listless and sleepy which were classic signs of dehydration.
The former care home manager Joy Byfield, 39, of Henniker Gardens, East Ham, London; the former assistant manager Jane Allen, 39, of East Gate, Fleet, Lincs; staff nurse Paul Shepherd, 44, of Swapcoate Lane, Long Sutton, Lincs; and nurse Jenieve Caesar, 57, of High Street, Hornchurch, Essex; all deny neglect of a person who lacks mental capacity between December 14-28, 2008.
The trial continues.
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