Harrow Council has been ordered to pay £550 compensation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) after the woman needed dental intervention after a denture was not removed or cleaned “in several months”.
Staff at her care home had also “inappropriately used a knife” to unlock the woman’s door.
The investigation concluded that the care home, which is under the jurisdiction of Harrow Council, caused “frustration and uncertainty” and “avoidable discomfort” to the woman – referred to as Mrs Y.
Mrs Y, who has dementia and other health conditions, moved into the care home in December 2022 after a stay in hospital. Her daughter, referred to as Miss X, had power of attorney.
After Miss X took her mother to the dentist in July 2023 when she complained of sore gums, the dentist wrote to the care provider saying they had struggled to remove Mrs Y’s lower denture, which “looked like it had not been removed for several months”.
It emerged the home had provided Mrs Y with a care plan stating that her dentures should be cleaned daily, but only referring to an upper denture.
The care plan also made no reference to Mrs Y being lactose intolerant, despite this being highlighted in a diet form provided in December 2022.
In October 2023, Miss X saw a knife on a memory box outside her mother’s room. When she raised concerns, she found staff were using it to open Mrs Y’s door when she had locked it from the inside.
Miss X was concerned that the knife could injure Mrs Y or other residents, but despite removing the knife, Miss X found it in the same place the next time she visited.
Staff had also told Miss X of an incident in which Mrs Y had used a tissue to clean up after another resident had “opened their bowels” in her presence. A subsequent Harrow Council investigation found that, although Mrs Y was not harmed, the care home’s actions “did not meet expected standards”.
Miss X complained to the care home about the incidents and raised them with the Care Quality Commission. It raised a safeguarding concern with the council, which carried out an investigation. The council ended the safeguarding in January 2024, noting that the care home “was rectifying the mistakes”.
Miss X agreed there had been some improvement, although it also noted she was “still not confident” the care home could provide sufficient support.
A meeting between the care home and social worker in January 2024 concluded that the relationship with Miss X “had broken down”, that she no longer trusted the care provider and this couldn’t be fixed – a claim disputed by Miss X.
In late February, the care home ultimately gave Mrs Y notice to leave and she moved out in April.
The ombudsman concluded that evidence showed the relationship between both parties had deteriorated and there was no fault in how the care home ended the contract.
However, it did find fault with how some care was provided and ordered the local authority to pay £250 in compensation to Miss X and £300 to Mrs Y.
A spokesperson for Harrow Council said: “The London Borough of Harrow takes its duty to support those in need very seriously, we apologise for falling short of the level of care this resident should expect to receive. We accept the findings of the ombudsman’s report and will fully comply with the recommendations.
“We have assured the ombudsman that action has been taken including training and coaching for staff involved. The council has issued an apology to those parties involved and compensation has been accepted.”
