Marian's story

Marian’s late father had a stroke at the age of 67 and other severe health needs. He was looked after by Marian’s stepmother, Pearl, until his health deteriorated so much he went into a care home.

Marian said, 'We started to arrange care for Dad to give Pearl a break. My Dad was set in his ways, being in the RAF, and things had to be done on time and meals on time. But the carers often arrived late to give him breakfast.'

'We needed someone to sleep over to make sure Dad did not fall out of bed, when Pearl had to be away overnight. They often did not arrive until very late. On one occasion, the carer had not turned up by 10pm so we were frantically phoning round. Because of the uncertainty of carers turning up, Pearl looked after Dad herself as it caused more worry to her wondering if they had turned up.'

'When Dad’s condition deteriorated, he was moved to a nursing home. Sometimes he was well looked after, he was changed regularly and turned in his bed to avoid bed sores. But I found that weekends he would not be dressed and got out of bed as that was when they have staff shortages.'

'His room often smelt of urine. It was very strong and took your breath away; I could not sit next to him. Dad was always a very clean man, and I just hope that he did not know what was happening to him.'

'The staff in the nursing homes are underpaid and made to do the work of two. This means they cannot take people to the toilet when asked, which results in some cases, like my Dad’s, them having accidents in their chairs, which is distressing. The reason for working in the caring profession should be that you want to, not that it is the only job going, and it brings in the money.'

'I still have flashbacks at some of the things that went wrong and I know that without something being done now it can only get worse.'