Carer left vulnerable man in car in sub-zero temperatures

A vulnerable Calderwood man was left in freezing temperatures for more than two hours by his on-call carer.
At Hamilton Sheriff Court Wilma Goodbrand (42) was found guilty of willfully neglecting Stephen Armstrong, who was paralysed from the waist down and had learning difficulties, as Arctic conditions gripped the town in 2010.

Goodbrand, of 17 Keith Quadrant in Wishaw, was a carer with the Church of Scotland charity Threshold West of Scotland.

She was dismissed by her employer after Stephen was left in her car unsupervised whilst she was attending to another client in Fleming Place in the Murray between November 1, 2010 and 31 December, 2010 – excluding December 15.

Threshold had been sub-contracted by South Lanarkshire Council to care for Stephen, who had been left wheelchair bound in 2008 after he broke his spine.

He sustained that injury when he fell down the stairs of his Calderwood home whilst heavily sedated by another carer from a different care organisation with no connection to Threshold.

Stephen sadly passed away in April due to complications from his spinal injury but his sister, Katherine Alexander, told the News Monday’s court ruling serves as some justice for her brother.

“It was a bittersweet moment for me,” said Katherine.

“I do see it as some justice for Stephen and it proves beyond doubt the legislation, if applied properly, works.”

She went on: “I do feel very angry and let down by Threshold as it is clear, when dealing with service users – particularly vulnerable service users like Stephen – the on call service was not adequate.

“Threshold claimed this was the action of a rogue individual and that procedures have changed but when the carer (Goodbrand) took to the stand she admitted she knew she shouldn’t have left Stephen alone but she did so as her employer had placed her on call.

“What really angered me as well was the fact another carer knew what happened to Stephen but kept it hidden for a year.

“It is absolutely appalling that another carer could watch someone do that.”

Katherine added she felt even more let down by Threshold as she turned to them for her brother’s care after the incident in 2008 which left Stephen paralysed and because she trusted Goodbrand implicitly.

She is currently battling for a Significant Case Review into the 2008 incident and is questioning why adult protection procedures were put in place in 2010 but not after Stephen’s accident in 2008.

She added: “I have had to fight every point to do with Stephen’s catastrophic injury in 2008 but with this case an adult protection investigation, involving the police, review was launched immediately.

“The whole premise is that the process is activated by the council’s social work department and if this is compromised it simply doesn’t work.

“Why were adult protection procedures activated in 2010 but not in 2008?”

A spokesman for CrossReach the Social Care Council of the Church of Scotland said: “CrossReach sincerely regrets what occurred in the late winter of 2010 which resulted in a member of staff being dismissed as a result of failing to meet the standards expected our staff.

“Following the incident a Critical Incident Review, informed by a review of our safeguarding procedure, examined the event and an action plan, detailing actions to seek to prevent a re-occurrence, was implemented. This is a high priority for CrossReach and will be kept under review.”

South Lanarkshire Council spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on the outcome of the court case.

“But Stephen’s tragic accident (in 2008) was reported to the Police and Care Inspectorate at the time five years ago, and all the circumstances have been fully investigated.

“In 2010 the Independent Review Complaints Sub-Committee considered the Council’s response to the accident and found that the provisions of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 did not apply in this case.”

“The Council always acted in Stephen’s best interests.”

On Monday, Sheriff Douglas Brown deferred sentence on Goodbrand until August 7 for reports.