A rest home has been made to apologise for failing to properly manage the care of a resident who later died from various ailments.
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall today released a report finding a rest home in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (the Code).
The report states that "over a period of four days, the woman experienced confusion, constipation, pain and urinary incontinence.
"She was admitted to hospital after she lost consciousness and, sadly, she died from sepsis and cellulitis."
In her report the Deputy Commissioner found, "there was an overall lack of response to the woman’s declining condition, despite the woman’s medical history suggesting that she was likely to experience a progressive decline in her general function.
"The various nursing staff involved in her care should have been alert to changes in her condition, and reacted more rapidly to new symptoms as they manifested," Ms Wall said.
On top of this, it was discovered the woman was diabetic and staff had failed to assess her blood sugar levels and failed to contact a doctor in response to her deteriorating condition.
The woman's daughters also raised concerns which were not followed up on.
Ms Wall was critical of a nurse for failing to manage the emergency situation appropriately when the woman lost consciousness.
Her report recommended that the rest home provide a written apology to the family, schedule specific education sessions for the facility’s nursing staff, use an anonymised version of this case as a case study to encourage staff reflection and discussion, and review its policy on clinical emergencies.
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