Pictures show deterioration of great-grandfather who died at care home
Shocking pictures show deterioration of great-grandfather, 83, who died after being ‘tortured’ at care home where he was left ‘naked and not washed for days’
- Joseph Ainsworth, 83, moved into Rowan Garth nursing home in Anfield last year
- The great-grandfather died there after suffering a second stroke on May 15, 2021
- Family claim he was often left unwashed, unclothed and sometimes dehydrated
- Care home was slammed by watchdog for ‘chaotic and mismanaged operation’
The daughter of an elderly man who she says was ‘not washed for days’ at a care home said his final days were so bleak his death came as a ‘relief’.
Joseph Ainsworth, 83, was admitted to Rowan Garth Nursing Home in Anfield, on March 20 last year – three days before the first lockdown began.
The pensioner, a father-of-two, grandfather-of-three and great grandfather-of-one, died at the home on May 15, having suffered a second stroke.
In that time his family said they witnessed him left for hours in his room with the door shut, sometimes unwashed, sometimes naked from the waist down, and sometimes dehydrated and shouting for a nurse.
His daughter, Lynne Carville, said: ‘My dad was my mum’s carer, he was very well and he was a very fit man up until the day he had his stroke.
‘But even after that he was very much still there, he was compos mentis.
‘It sounds strange but after he passed away there was a huge sense of relief that he wasn’t being tortured every second of the day.
‘In the end we just wanted to forget about it and remember him how he was.’
The daughter of Joseph Ainsworth (pictured right) who she says was ‘not washed for days’ at Rowan Garth care home in Anfield said his final days were so bleak his death came as a ‘relief’
Rowan Garth was slammed by watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) this week after an inspection revealed chaotic and mismanaged operation, with a ‘lack of understanding at all levels about roles and responsibilities’.
The state of the facility, run by Bloomcare, part of Wellington Healthcare (Ardern), was so dire, CQC head of adult social care inspection, Hayley Moore, said: ‘This sort of care is absolutely unacceptable, and no person should ever have to live like this.’
After reading that report Lynne spoke out and described what she says her ‘beautiful dad’ endured in his final weeks at Rowan Garth.
The retired factory worker had been fit and well but suffered the stroke on December 5, 2019, which caused partial paralysis and severe mobility problems.
Lynne said she and her family were reassured when they first met staff at Rowan Garth, but said after lockdown ‘everything changed’.
She said: ‘From lockdown when they knew nobody was able to come in it just went from bad to worse. They were horrible to us.
His family say Joseph died after suffering a second stroke at the home and weighed six stone
‘We had to stand outside the window and talk to him and some days we could see he had not had his teeth cleaned for days, there was so much white stuff on his teeth.
‘Because of the stroke he could only move one side of his body, but they kept putting the table with his water on the paralysed side so when we saw him he was completely parched.
‘They never dressed him properly, or cleaned him properly. He had the same t-shirt on for three days with food on it.’
Lynne said her father lost a large amount of weight in a short space of time which her daughter, Jade Ainsworth, reported to social services.
She said a doctor became involved and prescribed some fortified nutritional drinks to help him gain weight, but Joseph died a short time later – weighing around six stone according to his family.
Jade said: ‘One time when we were visiting him he was just shouting ‘nurse, nurse’ for around 20 minutes but no-one came.
Earlier this year, the CQC slammed Rowan Garth for its ‘chaotic and mismanaged operation’
‘I went to tell the front desk and they just said “we’re busy”.
‘It was inhumane, it was just watching someone you love deteriorate. Some days he would not have anything [clothing] on him.
‘We know he was in a bad situation, he could not walk and we were not in a position to bring him home as my nan was not strong enough to look after him – we were sort of stuck.’
Lynne said her father was stoic and would not raise a fuss about his treatment.
She said: ‘He would say to me ‘don’t explain, don’t complain’.’
Bloomcare did not reply to a request to comment on Joseph’s treatment.
However the firm previously gave a statement in response to the damning CQC inspection saying: ‘We acknowledge there were areas where we fell short of the high standards our residents and relatives rightfully expect and deserve, and we took immediate action and have a comprehensive action plan in place to address this.’
Liverpool Council has also said its adult social care team is reviewing each resident at Rowan Garth ‘to ensure their needs are being adequately met’.
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