Hospital limbo for stroke-hit gran, 75, 'evicted' from nursing home after fall

It was the second time in four months that she had required emergency surgery, having broken her hip in a previous fall at the East Dunbartonshire home in May.

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Springvale Nursing Home, in Lennoxtown, told doctors trying to discharge Mrs McBurnie that it "could not meet her needs".

Since then, social workers have applied to 12 care homes in the Lanarkshire area - closer to Mrs McBurnie's family in Cumbernauld - but all have refused, also insisting they "cannot meet her needs".

Springvale Nursing Home, Lennoxtown

Psychiatrists have also rejected attempts to move Mrs McBurnie, who requires round-the-clock care, into a 'continuous care' facility - a specialist nursing home for complex patients which can only be accessed through NHS referral - because she has full mental capacity, whereas most residents have advanced dementia.

Following months on an acute ward at GRI, Mrs McBurnie was transferred to Kilsyth Cottage Hospital days before Christmas.

Her case has been escalated to the head of social work in North Lanarkshire, but no solution has been found and a string of recent Covid outbreaks at the hospital has also resulted in a visiting ban.

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Mrs McBurnie's daughter, Amanda Hamill, said she feels like her mother is "serving a prison sentence" and "being punished for having a stroke".

Mrs Hamill said: "Her mental health has totally declined.

"She's getting to the stage where she's not phoning because she's breaking down constantly on the phone, and obviously Mother's Day is pending and I've just never got any good news to tell her.

"I feel like I'm leaving my Mum there to rot. It's so cruel.

"The manager there has gone way beyond the call of duty for my Mum, she's tried everything, but at the end of the day it's still a hospital and the majority of the people there have dementia so even in the sitting room, there's very few people my Mum can communicate with."

Catherine McBurnie was described as a 'very young 73' who loved life and had no health problems when she suffered a catastrophic stroke out of the blue in March 2020

Mrs McBurnie, a former hairdresser receptionist and Post Office clerk from Cumbernauld, retired early aged 61 to become a full-time carer to her own mother and continued to visit her every day, up until her death, even after she went into a care home.

"My Mum was in my Gran's care home every day doing her hair, her nails, taking her washing away, that was the kind of care she gave - no questions asked," said Mrs Hamill.

"That's what's so galling about her situation now."

The stroke hit the mother-of-two out of the blue in March 2020, just as Covid cases were taking off.

"Anyone who knows my Mum in Cumbernauld is totally shocked by this," said Mrs Hamill, a 54-year-old civil servant.

"She was a very young 73. She loved the bingo, she was the first on the dancefloor at a party.

"She took great pride in her appearance - she never went out without her hair done, her nails done, the face on. She was very outgoing, and on absolutely no medication.

"Then the rug was just pulled from under her. It was horrific."

The stroke left Mrs McBurnie in a wheelchair - paralysed on one side and unable to walk.

The trauma of the sudden and permanent change in her circumstances triggered dramatic weight loss, a nervous breakdown, anxiety and panic attacks.

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Brain damage also contributed to a sensation of constantly needing the toilet, aggravated by anxiety, which left her buzzing for carers every 15 to 20 minutes.

Initially, Mrs McBurnie's husband tried caring for his wife at home with four daily visits from carers, but the situation became too stressful and she was given an emergency care home placement.

This ended within three weeks when she broke her shoulder in a fall, resulting in admission to Monklands hospital and then a rehabilitation unit in Coatbridge.

A second attempt by her husband to look after his wife at home broke down and Mrs McBurnie was moved into sheltered housing with a care package topped up by additional visits from private carers, funded from her own savings.

However, this unravelled due to a lack of carers during the night when the grandmother was "going into major panic", and led to her placement at Springvale from March 2021.

Catherine, pictured with her daughter Amanda Hamill before her stroke, was dedicated to her family

Mrs Hamill believes the home's reluctance to re-accommodate her mother after her knee injury was partly motivated by Mrs McBurnie's claim that it happened when a carer pressed the wrong button on her reclining chair, throwing her from the seat - something the home denied.

She describes the report Springvale compiled on her mother - which is used to inform other providers - as "damning" and a deterrent for other care homes.

Springvale, rated 'adequate' by the Care Inspectorate, also continued to invoice Mrs Hamill for her mother's care once she was in hospital and then mistakenly recorded her as 'deceased'.

In July 2020, three women were charged following a police investigation into alleged mistreatment of residents at the home.

Mrs Hamill acknowledges that her mother's behaviour can be "challenging" as a result of her disability.

She said: "The toileting was the major thing - they never had the staffing levels to manage that, and it became problematic.

"There's behavioural issues because she's angry and frustrated, but it's not all the time. She's dealing with a life she'll never have again, and that has been very hard."

Amanda Hamill says she is at her 'wit's end' trying to find a solution for her mother's care

Mrs Hamill believes the only way to get her mother out of hospital now would be sheltered housing with a 24-hour care package.

She said: "I'm at my wit's end.

"Social work have a duty of care. They have tried now for over seven months and there is nothing on the horizon.

"Given that they can't find my Mum a care home, given the staffing crisis, given the situation with Covid, I really think it's time they thought outside the box and got my Mum into sheltered accommodation with a 24 hour carer.

"My Mum needs needs someone to live with her.

"Otherwise, there's no end in sight."

Raymond Taylor, health and social work manager at North Lanarkshire HSCP, said:

“We are familiar with the situation and have been working hard to find a solution.

"We would invite the family to make contact with us in order to agree a way forward.”

Springvale Nursing Home did not respond to a request for comment.