An 89 year old woman has died from the horrific neglect she sustained in a Brisbane " care " home. She was suffering from sepsis and her leg had rotted down to the bone. Her back was covered in burns from having lain in her own urine for God knows how long.
It is not often that I am moved to tears when I read an article, but this one has broken my heart and destroyed what little faith I have in humanity. That this has happened in Australia is incomprehensible and that it went unnoticed or ignored for so long is a symptom of a deeper rot and sepsis within our society.
Ms Palmer's red and bloodied back, which had been burned from lying in urine
Mrs Palmer's horrific condition was discovered by a caring and concerned enrolled Nurse visiting from " Care Pact " who immediately called an ambulance. That poor, poor woman died 3 days later at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.
That Nurse needs a pat on the back for what she did.
According to the Coroner's report, she had been under the care of her GP and the " Care home " . Regis Birkdale, and the GP have been ordered to conduct a clinical review.
A clinical review? Is that the best they can do?
The findings are with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission - to what end, I have no idea. A tap over the knuckles and a stern talking to?
The report said the GP did not adhere to 'the basic cares' including good nutrition, controlling diabetes and using compression garments.
'The care provided by the residential aged care facility to Mrs Palmer was consistent with GP advice and wound care management plans, but with inadequate escalation of concerns in May to July,' the report said.
The photo of Mrs Palmer's leg showed her red, yellow and septic wound, which exposed the ankle bone
According to family members, each time they visited, she was covered with blanket or bandages and they were unaware of the severity or the extent of her wounds. Her granddaughter said that her Grandmother was not one to complain.
'It would seem the staff were concerned but this was only ever escalated to the GP, and as a result, no one became involved in Mrs Palmer's care until July 15 (three days before she died), at the time of the Care Pact review.'
Well, I have to ask myself what kind of staff member let her lie in her own urine for so long that she burned so badly? What kind of staff member would see a leg rotting for months and ignore it because the GP wasn't " worried? "
Are people insane? Or do they simply not care anymore?
I read a comment about this online:
The soul of a country is measured by how it treats its elderly and those in genuine need and what is genuinely needed now is for those responsible to be criminally charged, sentenced, incarcerated and never allowed to ........ or work again. Even killers like Ivan Milat got better care in jail. If the law doesn't allow authorities to lock up those responsible and shut down these facilities, change the law, now.
We have written incessantly on this blog about the neglect of our elderly loved ones. Sadly, it would seem that things are getting worse, not better, and this spread of cruelty, neglect and abuse is accelerating at an alarming rate of knots.
Too often, we read that not all care homes are like this, that these are in the minority. But, surely, even ONE of these cases of abuse and neglect is ONE TOO MANY?
To die in a pool of her own urine after sepsis rotted her leg to the bone is unacceptable on any level. It must stop. Immediately.
Perhaps the final word should go to the person who wrote this online :
Oh my god that poor woman she must have been in agony my heart goes out to her and her family - another consequence of the ban on visiting during covid. Meanwhile the Royal Commission into Aged care - and lets not forget that this is what the fourth or is it fifth - commission yet again demands a higher staff to resident ratio ( which the federal government will ignore yet again. Many elderly have the same needs as a 2 year old child needing help with dressing, toileting, feeding etc The ratio is 1-5 children at kinder why is it not the same for aged care . did no-one wash this woman for months ??? Shame Shame there should be criminal negligence charges laid. Rest in peace Mrs Palmer and may your 'carers' rot in hell like they left you to do
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