OAP, 94, left bedridden by no-show carer

A 94-year-old woman was left bedridden and hungry because her carer failed to turn up. Anne Clark relies on high dependancy care from Cordia.

The pensioner had a hip replacement six weeks ago and suffers from deteriorating health which causes severe eyesight and balance problems.

On Monday a carer did not appear at the first time slot of 9am to help Mrs Clark get out of bed, get washed and to make her breakfast.

The pensioner, from Shawlands, was forced to stay in bed all day before finally seeing a member of staff at 5pm that evening. Again on Tuesday Mrs Clark was left bedridden until a carer turned up at 5pm.

Mrs Clark’s daughter, who did not want to be named, had been in hospital for emergency surgery on Monday and did not hear about her mother’s ordeal until she was discharged that night.

She said her mother was unable to contact Cordia because the only number she had been given was for the social work services.

She said: “The social work number was just ringing out because it was a Bank Holiday. They don’t have adequate structuring. My mother could have died.

“She’s so frail that she can’t walk. Her confidence has just hit rock bottom again.”

“Luckily my mother managed to call a friend who dropped off a pie for her because she was so hungry.

“My mother wants to stress that the service is usually very good but they need a better system in place so this doesn’t happen again.”

Cordia provides home care services on behalf of Glasgow City Council’s social work section.

A Cordia spokeswoman said the error occurred when the carer destined for Mrs Clark had gone to a neighbour.

She said: “Due to exceptional circumstances this error was not immediately picked up as the home that was mistakenly visited belonged to another Cordia client who lives next door to Mrs Clarke.

“This was the result of a genuine human oversight and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

“Mrs Clarke has a community alarm which allows her to press a pendant around her neck and receive help 24/7, 365 days a year.”