Jan Goodwin, 84 was discharged from Auckland City Hospital after restoring good health in July. Photo / Supplied
Jan Goodwin, 84 was discharged from Auckland City Hospital after restoring good health in July. Photo / Supplied
An elderly dementia sufferer was left starving and without medical attention at a rest-home care facility in Auckland to the point she required hospital-level treatment to restore her health, her daughter claims.
Elisabeth "Liz" Goodwin has filed a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner against Sarah Selwyn Hospital after she claims staff were negligent in their care of her 84-year-old mother, Jan, causing her to starve.
"It's still hard for me to talk about that afternoon," Goodwin told the Herald.
"Mum had been a patient at Sarah Selwyn hospital since August last year. But in May she started to lose a lot of weight, I noticed she lost about 8kg within a few weeks.
"The staff commented on it, but did nothing other than just weigh her. No nutritional drinks or dietitian visit was planned. The food kept getting handed out, with full plates taken back," she claimed.
"It breaks my heart to realise now that she couldn't use a knife and fork. So, when she was saying 'I can't eat this', she was probably literally meaning that she couldn't eat it rather than she didn't want to eat it."
A spokesperson for the care home said they were "working actively" with the Commissioner on the complaint: "We take our duty of care to all our residents seriously ... "
Elisabeth alleges her mother was mistreated by the staff at Sarah Selwyn Hospital with her arm covered in new bruising each day. Photo / Supplied
According to Goodwin, things deteriorated and, without fluids, her mother became "dangerously unwell".
After the elderly woman vomited, Goodwin said she believed "the penny finally dropped" and staff realised "something was seriously wrong".
"An urgent blood test was done, with results sent to the on-call doctor."
At that point, Goodwin said, she was desperate for any information but alleged it seemed impossible to get any clear detail from staff, the nurse kept pressuring her to fill their care plan.
"A nurse came into Mum's room when Dad and I were there. She presented the form to me and said, 'the doctor recommends tick box D'," the upset daughter claimed.
Ticking Box D on the form would have meant no intervention — opting for treatment to optimise comfort rather than prolong life.
A copy of the form was seen by the Herald and the option D read, "when in last hours of life consider end of life guidelines".
"The nurse actually handed me a pen, and then just stood there waiting, like 'sure, I'll just tick my mum's life away on your say so'," Goodwin said.
"It would have been very convenient for Sarah Selwyn Hospital if mum had just slipped away."
She claimed her death would have hidden what she believes were "mistakes, neglect and incompetence".
She also claims the manager of the facility told her to "think about what's best".
"But best for whom? How can you say that it's best for your loved one to slip away, when you can't even tell me what's wrong with them. How can you tell someone that non-intervention is the best option, when 'intervention' could be as simple as a course of antibiotics.
"I hate to think about how many families have been persuaded to let their loved ones die prematurely."
Elisabeth Goodwin's mother Jan had lost significant amount of weight at Sarah Selwyn Hospital. Photo / Supplied
Goodwin claimed that after feeling the pressure to fill the form, she chose option B instead of D, which meant hospital-level intervention.
"It wasn't clear how mum had been treated, until I helped with her care at Auckland Hospital," she claimed.
She claimed her mother had "significant bruising", was lacking in oral care, that staff did not understand that her mother needed to be on a soft diet, wasn't provided with nutritional drinks nor realised she couldn't use a knife and fork.
"This is a horrible way for an elderly person to be treated," she claimed.
It took 10 days of care for her mother to get to a point where she could be discharged: "It wasn't easy, she was very sick, and I was emotionally exhausted, and angry."
Auckland City Hospital's discharge summary for Jan Goodwin said she was suffering from hospital acquired pneumonia, poor oral intake, weight loss, nausea and vomiting.
Goodwin said they paid $1684 a week for her mother's care.
Her mother was now living at another rest home, where she said it was "wonderful to see her blossom".
A spokesperson from Selwyn Foundation, which oversees Sarah Selwyn Hospital, said they were aware of a complaint made by the family of a resident at the Sarah Selwyn care home.
"The case is still being assessed by the Health and Disability Commissioner and, due to privacy laws, it is inappropriate to comment in detail at this time," the spokesperson said.
"We take our duty of care to all our residents seriously and are working actively with the Commissioner to provide the relevant information they need."
