Woman's fingers bitten off in Bradford care home attack

May Brown was attacked in her bed at Owlett Hall Care Home and suffered a number of injuries

The family of a 97-year-old woman who was attacked in her bed in a care home have criticised the care regulator.

May Brown lost two fingertips and suffered bruises and skin wounds when she was attacked by another resident at Owlett Hall Care Home in Bradford.

Her family wants action from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to "hold the nursing home to account".

Owlett Hall said it apologised to Ms Brown's family and the CQC said it was "continuing to review" the care home.

Ms Brown suffered bruises, skin tears, "extensive bite marks" and the tips of her little finger and thumb were bitten off in the attack before she was found on the floor of her room by staff on 27 April 2022, according to a safeguarding report.

Pip Brown, May's son, said his mother has been left traumatised after the attack

Her son, Pip Brown, 73, said the family was "horrified" by the assault, which was not witnessed by care home staff.

"My mother has been badly let down by the system," he said.

Ms Brown, who has dementia, has since moved to another care home in Leeds but Mr Brown said the attack had a lasting impact.

"I know she can't remember the incident, however her behaviour towards her family has changed. If we try to get close or to touch her, she becomes quite hysterical and traumatised," he said.

"I believe that's as a result of this sustained attack."

He said the family wanted "a follow-up from the CQC" to hold the home to account and to ensure a similar attack could not happen again.

Police were called following the incident but their investigation was closed.

Ryan Hirst, May's grandson, said the family wants the Care Quality Commission to hold the nursing home to account

Ryan Hirst, Ms Brown's grandson, said she had been "lucky to survive" the "vicious" attack.

He said the family could not understand how another resident was "able to enter the room of a 97-year-old bed-bound lady and cause the amount of damage they caused, without anybody raising the alarm or intervening".

"We want a standard of care across all care homes that keeps people safe," he said.

Owlett Hall Care Home in Bradford is rated as good by the CQC

A spokesperson for Owlet Hall Care Home, currently rated as good by the CQC, said the "safety of our residents is of utmost importance".

"This was an unpredicted, isolated incident for which we issued an apology to the family," they said.

"All necessary reporting procedures were followed immediately, and we acted promptly to mitigate any future risk in line with regulatory procedure.

"We appreciate this was a challenging and distressing time for all parties involved and where we were able to, we made every effort to keep family members informed whilst the police and safeguarding investigation was ongoing."

'Continuing to review'

The CQC said inspectors found a number of improvements had been made at the home during an inspection in March.

"We have worked alongside agencies to assure ourselves that Owlet Hall Care Home are taking action to ensure people are receiving safe care," a spokesperson said.

"We are continuing to review information and will consider if any enforcement action is required."