See How Grandma Died From Own Urine

See How Grandma Died From Own Urine

 A pensioner died after being found with ammonia burns having been left in her own urine for eight days, it has been claimed.

Doctors found 69-year-old Margot Green in agony after she arrived at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Some

rset, with burns 'all over her body'.  

She died four days later after developing an infection. 

Her devastated daughter Corrin Garland has hit out at a care company tasked with visiting Ms Green twice daily, claiming the pensioner had not been showered for three weeks.

Mrs Garland, of Ilminster, Somerset, found urine burns on the 'back, legs and tummy' of her frail mother, who had been rushed to hospital after pressing her emergency alarm. 

The 43-year-old said she found her mother's bed covered in urine and faeces and has complained to Taunton-based Way Ahead Care.

Workers from the company provided two half-hour care visits a day at a cost of £35 a week. 

Mrs Garland said: 'When I saw the burns all over my mum's body, I was horrified.

'Doctors told me she had been lying in her own urine for eight days and that she was in a lot of pain.

'It's absolutely disgraceful that four different carers saw my mum during that time, and not one of them washed her or changed her bed.

'It haunts me to think of mum in her final days, lying in those conditions and too proud to complain.

'She paid for those carers so she could be as comfortable as possible, but they not only neglected her but took away her dignity.'

Ms Green, a former landlady, had suffered with bronchiectasis - a condition that left her lungs infected and filled with fluid - for six years and struggled to breathe.

Mrs Garland got a call on July 10 to say her mother had pressed her emergency alarm and had been rushed to Musgrove Park Hospital.

She said: 'When I got to her bedside, she rolled over and showed me the horrific burns.

'Her back, legs and tummy were all covered in raw, urine burns.

'It was so distressing to see her like that, I couldn't imagine the pain she was in.'

Mrs Garland then went back to her mother's house to collect some belongings, and was horrified to discover the entire house stank of sewage.

She said: 'As soon as I opened the door I was hit with the smell of bodily fluids. It nearly made me sick it was so strong.

'And when I saw where she had been sleeping, I was utterly shocked.

'The mattress topper was a mess and covered in faeces and urine.'

Immediately, she contacted Way Ahead Care to make a complaint and the Care Quality Commission agreed to look into the case.

She said: 'Mum was too poorly to have further tests done, so they couldn't find out where the infection had started.

'It was then that doctors confirmed she had been left in a urine soaked bed for eight days.

'They said either she had caught a chest infection from breathing in ammonia for so long, or the urine had got into her blood.

'I was devastated.'

She added: 'My mum was a very proud person and it kills me to think of her in those final moments.

'She apologised to me and said she didn't want me seeing her like that.

'What little dignity she had left was taken away.'

She is now awaiting the autopsy results to confirm where the infection started.

Richard Smith, company director for Way Ahead Care said: 'We are aware of the complaint and it has been raised with the local authority.

'It's a very complex care package and there were a number of different agencies involved in the package.

'We are cooperating with the investigation by the local authority.'

Somerset County Council, which commissioned the pensioner's care programme, said that it was working with the family and the care provider to determine what happened.