Anger over dad's care home death

Oct 31 2010 by Kerry Wood, Sunday Sun

A DEVASTATED daughter has broken her silence over concerns about the level of care her dad endured in the months before his death.

Marina Kent already had doubts of her own but as she was grieving the loss of her beloved dad John Cockburn she was dealt another hammer blow.

The second shock arrived during the inquest into her beloved dad’s death, when the coroner raised questions about the care at the home where he lived.

Suffering the early stages of vascular dementia, Mr Cockburn, known to his friends as Jack, went to live at Throckley Care Home in Newcastle, where he stayed until his death in July last year.

But within months of his arrival Marina says she started to notice small incidents which she claims added up to a host of errors in looking after her dad.

Her fears where cemented in April this year when, during the inquest into Jack’s death, Newcastle coroner David Mitford said he had concerns at the care the vulnerable pensioner had received.

Speaking for the first time, Marina, 54, of Berkley Terrace, Newburn, Newcastle, said: “I don’t feel the elderly are getting the care and attention they deserve.

“My dad was dirty, had numerous falls and bed sores which I believe were caused because staff were meant to turn him regularly but hadn’t. He had to be on a special diet as he had difficulty swallowing but it was only after my dad’s death I found out he’d been discovered being fed while lain on his back.”