My nana passed away after care home neglect ..would you complain?

[nasssg]

My nan was 98 she still lived at home but had a fall and broke her hip.
She managed to recover but as she had dementia social services said she had to go into care home.
At the point of admission she could walk with her frame and had a good appetite.
4 weeks later I rang the home to speak with her and they said she was in bed unwell and to ring back the next day.
I rang back next day and was told if she was no better they were ringing doctor the next day.
Rang the next day,due to covid the doctor couldn't visit but left amoxicillin in case she had infection (this was Thursday )
I told the care home my nan was resistant to this and she was prone to uti and she reacted well to trimethoprim antibiotics.
They said they would inform the doctor.
The following day I rang back (Friday ) and they hadn't called the doctor and were still giving her amoxicillin.
I asked them to call a doctor and they said they couldn't till Monday as they don't offer out of hours.
Sunday I got a phone call saying she was unresponsive and a ambulance was on the way.
She got took into hospital and was severely dehydrated ,she had a untreated uti and the doctor thought as the infection was making her so sleepy she wasn't drinking fluids.
Her kidneys were severely damaged
She died 4 weeks later
I can't stop thinking about this
Was this neglect ?

Oh that is sad. Have you spoken to the carehome manager or the gp to ask what happened and why there was a delay. Have you had a chance to speak to her hospital consultant.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

They rang the doctor and had antibiotics prescribed. They rang the ambulance when when she deteriorated and had her admitted to hospital.

It's highly unlikely they would have been able to get a GP unfamiliar with her antibiotic history to prescribe trimethoprim antibiotics over the weekend.

The crux is, did the home try and push fluids to keep her hydrated in those couple of days. If they have records to show they did then they probably did all they could do. Even if the had managed to get the GP to prescribe a different AB it might not have changed the outcome.

Sadly dehydration/infection is a very common way for elderly people with dementia to pass away, they often lose the will or urge to eat or drink anything. They can't fight off infection and often attempts to try and fight off the infection are more invasive than is kind or right. Even then if the body has started shutting down even with the best care available there isn't much you can do once that process starts.

I hope you get the answers you need. You can always raise it as a safeguarding alert with the local authority if you truly believe that they significantly hastened her death through neglect. The local authority will look through all the care records.

The hospital would usually flag it with the local authority if they felt the admission was avoidable or due to neglect, and would usually inform the coroner too if there was any doubt over the circumstances of death. Has anyone else mentioned concerns like this to you?

This is so tough I’m sorry you’ve been through this. We had something similar with my gran. Like a previous poster said this situation can happen to parents with dementia. My gran had it and eventually died to to dehydration. She just wasn’t well. She was in hospital for weeks where they tried to help her but as soon as she came off the iv fluids she just went downhill again and eventually they had to discharge her to a care home. I would speak to the care home manager. Sorry for your loss

The coroner rang me and asked if I Wanted a autopsy but I declined as I thought she had been through enough.
Her death certificate said "elderly frailty"
The priest who conducted the service said a lady who he was close too passed away in this care home also and he didn't think her care was up to scratch.

@Daisy829 in the end my nana was just having tiny sips and was on a liquid diet
When she was home she had a great appetite

I think it is so sad your Nana died in these circumstances, and I think you would not want this to happen to other people in the care of this home and you should register a complaint for this reason.

I wouldn't. I don't think this sounds like neglect, to be honest, just the kind of complicated and unfortunate end to a long life that so many people experience. Even in the best-organised and most caring settings there are delays getting drugs or medical attention — particularly now, with Covid. And anyone who has had a loved-one with dementia knows how difficult it can be to get them to drink enough.

It's very common for bereaved people to look for someone or something to blame because it's difficult to accept that your loved-one has gone. I'd urge you to concentrate on celebrating her long life and all the good times you had together. Condolences.

How did this turn out? Did it get investigated? X