Dignity lost: Horror way wife found out her husband was dead

The wife of a dementia patient received a call from staff at his care home asking, “Do you want us to continue CPR?” - this was the first time she was told her husband was dying.

Sharon Askew has complained to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission saying her late husband Christopher, who suffered from dementia, was left to die in an undignified manner.

The wife of a dementia patient says she was left devastated after receiving a call from staff at his care home asking “do you want us to continue CPR?” – the first time she was told her husband was dying after he fell twice in one day.

Sharon Askew has complained to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) saying her late husband Christopher, a former postman and pub owner, was left to die in an undignified manner on the bathroom floor at the $1300-a-fortnight Calvary The Mariner Aged Care facility on the NSW mid-north coast.

Mrs Askew said despite being classified as high risk for falls, Mr Askew, 77, was not ­adequately assessed or taken to hospital after he fell in a bathroom of the nursing home. The home said Mr Askew’s first fall occurred at 10.16am – a time disputed by Mrs Askew – on April 11, after his blood pressure fell to dangerously low levels.

Sharon Askew lost her husband after he fell and suffered a stroke at Calvary The Mariner Aged Care facility.

An investigation by the regulator found staff sent the home’s GP a text message at 11.26am saying “his observations were within normal limits” and did not make the doctor aware of his blood pressure reading of 82 over 50.

The doctor did not reply and staff did not follow up with the GP when it later dropped again to 85 over 62 at 1.15pm.

A second fall just hours later at the home in South West Rocks saw Mr Askew deteriorate rapidly with attempts to resuscitate him failing.

“I went to the nursing home at 9.10am and found him in the bathroom where he had damaged his left arm badly and he was bleeding profusely – it was a bad fall,” said Mrs Askew, 75, a retired bank worker. “They lifted him into the bed and took his blood pressure which was very low and he kept rubbing the top of his head. The staff said there was no lump or blood and he was fine.

Christopher Askew was a a former postman and pub owner.

“I sat with him for an hour and half when he picked up a chocolate milk drink but his hand was shaking and his eyes were very glassy.

“At 7.31 that night I received a call to ask if I wanted them to continue CPR. I said ‘of course I do’ … I was shocked to hear they were performing CPR on Chris. He was probably already passed away, but no one had told me.

“My son and I raced over to the nursing home where an ambulance was waiting. Chris had already passed away and the ambulance said it was pointless continuing CPR.”

Mrs Askew said when the doctor arrived at 8.45pm they asked whether the cause of death should be recorded as heart attack or stroke.

Family believe Christopher Askew, pictured with his grandson at Calvary The Mariner Aged Care facility in South West Rocks, would still be alive had he been taken to hospital after his first fall on April 11.

The family has asked for an incident report from the home but managers have declined to provide one, Mrs Askew said. She said she believed her husband would still be alive had the home staff taken him to hospital after his first fall.

The ACQSC’s criteria for monitoring patients with low blood pressure and dementia was every half-hour and to have a pressure mat on the floor to signal to nurses if the patient is out of bed after an unwitnessed fall.

The regulator’s final report into the care home found staff did not fully follow their post-falls monitoring, while documentation did not meet the standards in the home’s falls prevention and management plan. It found neurological observations were only documented once instead of every 30 minutes for two hours and then at least every four hours for the first 24 hours.

A spokesperson for Calvary said: “We extend our sincere apologies to the family for the distress caused as a result of their experience … Calvary is working with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to address the areas identified for improvement.”

Originally published as Dignity lost: Horror way wife found out her husband was dead