Nursing home investigated following four deaths

Posted: September 19, 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence Wrongful & Accidental Death 

An Edinburgh nursing home, Pentland Hill, is being investigated after four of their residents died in the last few months. Police Scotland were first called to the home in July when a 67-year-old woman died suddenly, but soon discovered that the problem was far greater than first anticipated. Inspectors discovered that the home was battling some serious issues, including problems with their management sector and problems with the level of care being provided to their residents.

The Bupa-run home is currently receiving multiple complaints from residents’ families and has been ordered to carry out multiple improvements by the regulator. The daughter of one of their residents, Alex Hunter, described the way in which her mother was treated as “shocking”. She said: “I’m thinking of taking it up with my solicitor because I feel there’s been total negligence here, and I’m totally unhappy about this.” 

Mrs Hunter’s mother, Beatrice Hunter, was left with a bed sore, severe dehydration and a urine infection from her stay at the home. A Police Scotland spokesman said it and the Health and Safety Executive were carrying out “a joint initial investigation in relation to four deaths”.

Vast improvements

Vivienne Birch, Bupa Care Services’ director of partnerships, said that the care home had recruited extra staff to better monitor resident’s welfare. Alongside this, she said that their medication management systems had undergone major improvements and that extra dementia care experts had also been recruited to help improve the home’s care quality.

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