Care Home Took Two Weeks to Tell Woman Mother Had Died

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Rosedene Nursing Home criticised in Ombudsman report

Rosedene Nursing Home. Picture: Google Streetview

November 5, 2021

A care home in Wandsworth failed to tell a woman her mother had died for two weeks.

The details came to light through an Ombudsman report.

Miss D complained to Rosedene Nursing Home for not keeping proper records and contact details of herself when her mother (Mrs M) died.

The care home also did not manage Mrs M’s personal belongings or her finances properly, according to the report.

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust also failed to do this adequately to safeguard her finances.

Miss D said she suffered avoidable distress and inconvenience, and she believed the home owed money to Mrs M’s estate.

The home, trust and council have agreed to apologise to Miss D, pay her £300 and take action to prevent similar problems in the future.

The home is privately run and not managed by Wandsworth Council.

They have also agreed to reimburse Mrs M’s estate with any money due to it.

Mrs M started living in the care home in 2006 and passed away in late January 2019.

The home tried to contact Miss D by phone but couldn’t get hold of her and sent two letters to two different addresses.

Mrs M’s social worker was also contacted, but in the end the home contacted the police who told Miss D on February 12, 2019 – around two weeks later.

When Mrs M moved into the home in 2006 it did not record any next of kin details for her on its admission documentation.

The first dated entry in the home’s records about next of kin was in 2013, when the home updated its admission form and put Miss D as Mrs M’s next of kin.

Between 2013 and 2017 the home’s documentation had inconsistencies about whether Mrs M had children or a next of kin.

The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman report, said, “The council, the home and trust have agreed to write to Miss D to apologise for the faults we have identified and for her avoidable distress and inconvenience, within one month of our final decision [and] pay Miss D £300 in total (split between the three organisations) to recognise her distress, and her time and trouble in pursuing this complaint, within one month of our final decision.

A spokesperson for South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust said, “We offer our condolences to Miss D and apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused at what must have been a difficult time.

“We take our role as a corporate appointee very seriously and steps have been taken to prevent similar problems in the future.”

Rosedene Nursing Home and Wandsworth Council have been contacted for comment.