Hartcliffe Nursing Home fail to protect dying man's dignity

Bosses as Hartcliffe Nursing Home said they have implemented safety measures to prevent the incident from happening again

Care home bosses have apologised after a resident took a dying man's phone from his room and called his daughter as she sat with him in hospital.

The events happened at Hartcliffe Nursing Home, in Bristol, and left the man's relatives "unable to grieve", an ombudsman's report said.

The report said staff at the home also failed to protect the man's dignity.

Care charity Methodist Homes (MHA), which runs the home, said its "usual high standards of care were not met".

The care home is rated as 'good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A complaint was lodged against Bristol City Council, which has been upheld by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

In its assessment, the ombudsman said the council partly funded the man's residential care and so, as commissioner of his social care, was ultimately responsible for the actions of the home.

The report stated that staff at the home in Murford Avenue had failed to "preserve the dignity" of the man - named only as Mr Y - by failing to close his door when his condition significantly deteriorated one evening in February 2023, allowing another resident "to watch events unfold".

Staff then did not secure his room after he was transferred to hospital and that same resident was able to enter it, take his personal belongings including his mobile, and call Mr Y's daughter while the hospital was providing end-of-life care for him.

Mr Y's family said they are struggling to grieve following the distressing events

One of Mr Y's other relatives, Ms X, complained to the watchdog that this caused "significant distress to the family, and they are not able to grieve" his death.

She asked for the home to put service improvements in place.

MHA said it has investigated the incident and made improvements to prevent it happening again.

The home told the ombudsman that it intended to place a sensor mat down when rooms were temporarily empty, so staff would know if another resident enters.

Despite upholding the complaint, the watchdog said it would not investigate further because it was not persuaded it could do anything more for Ms X.

'Sincerely apologise'

It said: "The home has apologised, learned from its fault and put important service improvements in place.

"I consider the home's actions appropriately remedy the distress she and the family suffered."

MHA chief operating officer Dan Ryan said: "We would like to take the opportunity to sincerely apologise to the family of Mr Y for the distress the incident caused and extend our sympathies for their loss.

"Sadly, on this occasion, our usual high standards of care were not met."

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: "We expect all care providers who we commission to work to the highest possible standards, as set out by the CQC, and work with providers to improve practice where any issues are raised."