Two South Yorkshire sisters: Our mum 'lost her dignity' at Sheffield care home
Lisa Burkinshaw & Jeanette Clayton's mother Rita was diagnosed with dementia around a decade ago
Two sisters from South Yorkshire tell us they're 'disgusted' - at how their mum was 'neglected' - as a resident at a care home in Sheffield.
77-year-old Rita Burkinshaw spent 18 months at the Abbey Grange Care & Nursing home between 2021 & 2023 - before she was moved to a different setting late last year.
Jeanette Clayton + Lisa Burkinshaw's mum Rita was the 'life & soul' of the party until her dementia diagnosis around ten years ago.
During the Covid-19 pandemic - Rita became a resident at Abbey Grange as her condition worsened - but over time her daughter Lisa began to notice a few concerning red flags whilst visiting her:
"All her dignity was just stripped from her, really.
"That was the most upsetting thing, because my mum was so proud before her diagnosis.
"She always had her makeup on her face.
"She always had her hair done, she always looked and smelt beautiful.
"To go into Abbey Grange and see her smelling of urine; seeing her wet through; seeing her sad with a bruised face and swollen cheeks; it was heart breaking."
Despite this - The Care Quality Commission rated Abbey Grange as 'Good' in all areas back in 2022.
Rita's daughter Jeanette feels her mum's condition got worse during her stay at the care home:
"Why have we put my mum in this home?
"We were having to do everything.
"We were still going in and taking her food and feeding her.
"We were still asking a doctor to give her antibiotics.
"If we hadn't been there to keep an eye on her, my mum would've passed away by now."
We contacted Country Court - who run and manage Abbey Grange - and they've chosen not to comment.
Meanwhile, a CQC spokesperson said:
“We inspected Abbey Grange Nursing Home on 20 July 2022 in response to specific concerns raised to us; as a result the service remained rated good overall.
The full findings of the inspection are available on CQCs website. We take all concerns about health and social care services extremely seriously and use people’s lived experiences to focus our inspection activity and continually monitor the care services provide.
Where we do find care that does not meet national standards we have a range of enforcement powers at our disposal to ensure services provide people with the good safe care they deserve.
“We encourage anyone who has concerns or feedback they would like to share about a care service they or a loved one uses, to contact us: https://www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us.”