Hundreds of nursing home patients died dehydrated or malnourished | Society

New figures reveal that more than 1,000 patients in nursing homes have died of malnutrition, dehydration or bedsores.

At least one of these conditions has been found on the death certificates of 1,463 vulnerable NHS residents, local authorities and private nursing homes in England and Wales in the last five years.

The figures were obtained by the Guardian of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which analyzed the death certificates at the request of the newspaper.

A separate Guardian investigation found that some of the country's worst nursing homes were owned by companies with a total profit of £ 113 million, despite poor levels of care.

ONS statistics showed where any of the three conditions were mentioned on patient death certificates as an underlying cause or contributing factor.

From 2013 to 2017, dehydration was noted in 398 cases; malnutrition recorded 226 times; and bedsores mentioned 839 times. Conditions affected women much more than men, with 1,005 women and 458 men.

The NSO warned that the data "did not provide enough information to link deaths to poor care in the nursing home" but acknowledged that "it is possible" that poor care may have been a factor in some of the cases. death".

The NSO added that it was not possible to determine the origin of the conditions, explaining that there were many causes of malnutrition, including patients with cancer of the digestive tract, which prevented them from eating properly or absorb nutrients.

Caroline Abrahams, director of the charity of Age UK, said: "Many nursing home residents are facing chronic health issues including advanced dementia, and many are approaching the end of their life. Horrible and potentially dangerous conditions such as pressure ulcers, feeding and drinking problems are all to be expected and it is imperative to have enough staff, with the proper training, to provide these people with very good results. vulnerable very old high-quality treatments. and the social services they need.

"Although nursing homes are capable of recruiting and retaining enough people with the right skills – a very big" if "- they can not meet the needs of very frail seniors alone. A large part of the NHS contribution is also required. "

According to the Care Quality Commission, the industry's watchdog, in 2018, 1% of adult social service providers were "inadequate"; 17% "required improvements"; 79% were "good"; and 3% were "exceptional".

Eileen Chubb, founder of Compassion in Care, a charity that fights on behalf of the industry's whistleblowers, said that she regularly receives calls from concerned family members whose loved ones suffered from these conditions.

She said, "I would say these figures represent the tip of the iceberg. I do not think that most seniors' deaths are adequately reviewed because they expect seniors to die.

"It is scandalous that people die in these conditions at the present time, in a so-called civilized society.

"Often, food is placed in front of nursing home patients, but there is simply not enough staff to feed it," added Chubb.