A care home in Battersea has denied giving an elderly patient the equivalent of a “thimbleful” of water a day, following an inquest into the woman’s death.
Jeanne Matthews was severely dehyrated and weighed only five-and-a-half stone (35kg) when she died at the Bupa-run Meadbank Nursing Home in Parkgate, a coroner heard last week.
Westminster coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said when she died Mrs Matthews had “hugely high sodium levels”, suggesting extreme dehydration, but a verdict of natural causes was recorded as there was no concrete proof the cause of death was dehydration.
In newspaper reports, it was claimed Mrs Matthews was only given 50ml of water on any given day at the home – a claim which Bupa denies.
Mrs Matthews arrived at Meadbank in Februry this year and spent five weeks in the home before her death.
The 80-year-old was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital with a broken hip on March 27, but she died a week later on April 4.
This week Oliver Thomas, regional director for Bupa, told the Wandsworth Guardian Mrs Matthews had symptoms of dehydration before she arrived and only lost 1kg (2.2lb) during her stay.
He added she had lost at least 8kg (17.6lb) before her arrival at the home.
However, Bupa did accept a complaint by Mrs Matthews’ daughter, Cheryl Ford, about her mother’s dehydration becoming “lost in the system” after a senior manager left the nursing home.
Mr Thomas admitted this was an area Meadbank could improve on to ensure relatives’ concerns were heard.
Meadbank says the “thimble of water” allegation was the result of the coroner’s office misinterpreting official records.
It says while it was good practice to keep a detailed record of every patient’s intake of food or water, it was not company policy to do so.
Mr Thomas said the coroner might have read a record on a day where just one entry was noted.
A spokesman for Bupa said: “The staff at the home worked very hard to give Mrs Matthews the best possible level of care, spending anything up to an hour to feed her at each mealtime.
“We always strive to raise our standards of care and while the coroner recorded a verdict of natural causes, we have already taken steps to see if there is anything we can learn.
“We would like to send our condolences to Mrs Matthews’s family.”
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