Brithdir Nursing Home inquest: Nurse 'struggled to cope'

A nurse at a care home where it is alleged residents died from neglect has said patients suffered because she "struggled to cope".

An inquest is being held into the deaths of seven residents at the former Brithdir Nursing Home in New Tredegar, between 2003 and 2005.

Daphne Richards, who worked at the Caerphilly home, said she was sorry.

The Newport inquest follows Operation Jasmine, into neglect claims at six homes.

On Wednesday the inquest heard how Stanley James, an 89-year-old former steelworker from Cardiff first went to Brithdir in 1995.

His notes suggested he had multiple pressure sores to his buttocks, thighs and foot between 2002 and his death in 2003, but the inquest heard record keeping at the home was patchy. 

bbc.co.uk

Care leaders welcome Designated Settings indemnity scheme

Care leaders have welcomed news that care and nursing homes that become Designated Settings for the discharge of COVID-19 patients from hospital are to be indemnified by the Government against legal claims.

The move was announced in a written ministerial statement tabled by Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State this week.

Mr Zahawi said: “Given the severity and immediacy of the pressures facing the NHS, we want to take all possible steps to remove obstacles to sufficient local Designated Settings provision. This includes ensuring that where the creation of Designated Settings has created barriers to insurance, the Government will introduce a targeted and time-limited indemnity offer to fill gaps in commercial cover.

carehomeprofessional.com

President of World Clown Association gets job in a care home

Lound Hall Nursing Home in Suffolk has now got its very own professional clown who is also president of the World Clown Association.

Andrew Davis is the care home’s new activities coordinator.

He has been a clown full time since 2007 and got into clowning 22 years ago, when he was asked to step in to entertain 50 children in the theatre of an entertainment complex he worked at. He said: “I knew nothing of entertainment, but I could copy what I'd seen the others do for a show. So I did. Never did I imagine how this would change my life.”

He joined the World Clown Association in 2012. Since then he has performed in many places across the world, including a two-week stint outside the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. He is also believed to be the first person to clown on the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

carehome.co.uk

Alzheimer’s: new research shows a leap forward in identifying neurons vulnerable to the disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating condition that is currently unstoppable and incurable. The main cause of the disease is the loss of neurons and other brain cells in the brain – also know as degeneration. This degeneration is what leads to problems with memory and other cognitive functions.

Researchers can tell which neurons die first or exhibit increased vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease based on where they’re located in the brain and what they look like. But they don’t know what genes or proteins these neurons express. Knowing these factors is important for recognising and identifying the changes in specific cells that happen when disease is present.

theconversation.com

Residents of Wales care home died after alleged neglect, inquest hears

Police found evidence of neglect at Brithdir nursing home including dehydration and pressure sores

Vulnerable residents of a care home in south Wales, owned and run by a doctor, died after suffering from alleged neglect including dehydration, malnourishment and pressure sores, an inquest has heard.

Police uncovered evidence of “general neglect” when they investigated Brithdir nursing home, near New Tredegar, Caerphilly, the inquest on six residents aged in their 70s and 80s was told.

theguardian.com

Care providers get £120m to spend on extra staff, as absence rates rise due to Covid

The government has announced that care homes and home care services in England struggling with rising absence rates due to Covid, will be able to access a £120m fund to pay for extra staff or to pay existing staff overtime.

The National Care Forum recently carried out a snapshot survey of care providers finding care homes were reporting staff absences of between 11 to 40 per cent with a few reporting absence levels as high as 50 per cent.

Absences were caused by a combination of COVID-19 positive cases being picked up by PCR testing, self-isolation following contact tracing, shielding and childcare responsibilities.

carehome.co.uk