Care provider apologises for abuse of resident

The managing director of Denestar Ltd has spoken of her disgust when learning that two employees, working at Oakfoss House care home in Pontefract, had subjected an 89-year-old female resident to violence and verbal abuse.

A four-month prison sentence for care worker Emma Bryan was confirmed yesterday at Leeds Crown Court, as well as a 12-month community order for her colleague Katherine Wallis, after CCTV footage of the abuse was uncovered by worried relatives of Oakfoss House resident Ivy Robinson.

Gaynor Saunders comments: “Providing our residents with excellent care and quality of life is my number one priority. I was devastated to learn that two long-standing, experienced employees who’d been given extensive training in caring for and safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people had behaved in such an abhorrent way.

“I immediately notified the police, social services and the Care Quality Commission and have worked closely with them to ensure the former employees involved face the severest of consequences for their actions. This is the only way to make sure that other vulnerable people will not be at risk from harm from them in the future.

“The resident remains at Oakfoss House and words cannot express how sorry I am, to the resident and family involved, that they have suffered at the hands of people who ignored their duty to provide care and show kindness and respect to someone who was entitled to expect this. Bad practice in the care profession simply cannot be tolerated and I hope this case sends that message loud and clear to anyone who wishes to work for me or in the care industry more generally.”

In a statement read out by their solicitor, the family of Ivy Robinson spoke of their difficulty in coming to terms with what had occurred, saying:

“It is difficult to describe the effect this abuse has had on mum, our family and our lives but to see what mum was subjected to sickened and horrified us. This will never leave our memories. Moreover we feel as though we have let mum down.

“The decision to install the CCTV came as a last resort and was a culmination of various incidents over a period of months that could not be explained by staff at Oakfoss. The final trigger was when mum became agitated and frightened when it came time for us to leave on an evening. She would cry and ask us not to leave.

“No one knows how long this abuse and neglect had been going on for. We hope that other families can learn from mum's ordeal and be aware of certain signs. Just because someone has dementia does not mean that they do not know what is going on – please listen to them and act.”