Scottish COVID-19 inquiry|Impact hearing|Health and social care|23 November 2023 (morning session)

Highlights of this remarkable session feature Ms.Gillian Grant, who tesitifes about a FORGED signature DNR form and the use of midazolam on her gran.

Introduction

Ms.Grant’s grandmother was admitted to Mavisbank care home around August or September 2020. She had suffered a series of falls whilst in sheltered housing and it was decided she needed more support in a nursing home. She sadly passed away 4th Nov 2020 aged 91 with the cause of death noted as COVID-19. One of 12 residents who passed at Mavisbank over the first 15 months of the pandemic for which data is made available.

Neglect in the home

Here Gillian describes how on a suprise trip to the care home for a window visit during lockdown she witnessed her gran being fed a meal of uncooked mince. She was only able to communicate standing outside using a white board.

‘‘The mince was pink..it was RAW.’’

In addition, Gillain was noticing how her gran was losing weight in the care home and bought her a jacket to keep her warm during the cold outdoor garden visits. Her gran never received the jacket. Even with a negative COVID test the home forbid all contact between the family. In her statement Gillian says:

‘The garden visits were VERY inhumane.’’

‘‘The first thing she wanted to do was come towards me and hug me, i had to hold my hand out and stop her which felt awful…we were watched over the entire time.’’

Further to the uncooked meal Gillian then discovered her gran had a ‘shower’ in the home and was pleased to hear about this until her gran stated the following:

‘They took me and threw a big bucket of water over me.’’

‘‘I’ve since spoke to quite alot of people with relatives in the home and people that have worked in the home and i really do think that did happen.’’

Forged DNR document

Here in this stunning segment of testimony Gillian reveals one of the most shocking revelations thus far from the Scottish COVID inquiry. Her gran was placed on a DNR order without her consent as power of attorney. Ms.Grant’s signature was forged.

‘‘When i sat with the inquiry team to give this statement my solicitor produced the do not resuscitate order and it had MY NAME on it.’’

A shocked Lord Brailsford interjects: ‘‘Was it signed?’’

‘‘I’ve got a copy of it…it’s in block capitals letters with my name…..this is NOT my normal signature at all.’’

‘‘There is a section that asks if the patient is aware of the DNR order and neither box is ticked.’’

The statement adds further details:

‘‘The part below that is signed by the GP and is dated for 2 November 2020. On this date my gran was s howing only very mild signs of COVID symptoms. My gran suffered from mild dementia but had enough capacity to make her own decisions. I was asked about a DNR but categorically stated that I was not prepared to make any decision on a DNR if she was not critically ill and I knew she could make these decisions for herself.’’

‘‘I am shocked that this document exists as I had no knowledge of this before being presented with it and I had never authorised a DNR but this has my name on it.’’

‘‘It was also stated on these records that we did not wish her to go to hospital and this was also untrue. I stated on several occasions that if she deteriorated I wanted her to go to hospital immediately.’’

End of life ‘care’

Gillian’s gran just days later was then injected with the powerful end of life drug midazolam prior to her death without ANY consent given by the family.

The care also home misled to the GP by stating the family had wished her mother NOT goto hospital if she were to become very ill. It was then the care home advised ‘‘just in case’’ medications. A cucial point is that Gillian’s Gran was not extremely ill during this period and was said to be suffering from ‘‘mild COVID.’’

‘‘I assertain the sedative she was given is one called midazolam.’’

-Stuart Gayle KC

‘‘She was also given two other drugs that were part of an end of life protocol.’’

‘‘I am VERY angry and VERY upset about this.’’

‘‘We never once said we never wanted her to goto hospital..i always said the exact opposite.’’

Further details within the statement:

’’We were at no point informed that she was end of life and if we had been then why had we not been called to be with her.’’

‘‘From things I've read, Midazolam can reduce your respiratory rate and I don't understand why they would have given her that? If somebody had told me it was Midazolam I would have said no.’’

‘‘It makes no sense tome whatsoever particularly as her oxygen saturation levels were going down it (midazolam) can only make it worse. They also could have sent her to hospital.’’

Final comments

Some of Gillian’s concluding remarks mention the removal of human rights for her gran and that the policy harms experienced were about equal to that of the virus.

‘‘Their emotional and mental wellbeing wasn’t considered in so many ways..in some ways the isolation and the loneliness and the confusion and the fear was almost worse than the virus itself.’’

Legal recourse

Gillan was going to take legal action against the care home but was told the costs would be significant. Her goal was to have the home shutt down.

‘‘I had to drop the legal action because the advice was that it would cost me too much money to keep pursuing it.’’

‘‘I feel upset by that because I feel it is unfair that they are getting away with something and that they have the money to get away with it.’’

‘‘I wanted that place shut down because I don't think it is any better. I still know people who work in it, and it terrifies me. I know people who have been sent there recently and it terrifies me.’’

Conclusion

Lastly, Gillian reinforces the point there is an undercurrent of neglect and abuse in the care home sector which was exacerbated during the lockdowns.

‘‘I also think there is an undercurrent of, sometimes, neglect and abuse in care homes, and I think, because of the whole lockdown, it opened the flood gates for that whole thing to get worse and that things went on in care homes that we probably don't know about because people weren't allowed access to them. That worries me..’’

Final sentence of statment paragraph 113:

‘‘I would be happy for the inquiry to use the medical records as I think they are important in showing the neglect and inconsistency within the care home.’’

End

Links:

-Full statement Gillian Grant-https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-wt0142-000002.pdf

-Full vdieo-YouTube Scottish-COVID 19 inquiry- Impact hearing | Health and social care | 23 November 2023 (morning session)

-https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67507145