More families speak out against Cwmbran Care Home

Sarah King said her 71 year old mum died four months after joining the care home. She claims she had multiple pressure sores and was given a tea cake for her dinner.

A couple of days ago The Argus reported on concerns regarding Llanyravon Care Home in Llanfrachfa Way.

The 53-bedroom home, run by provider Golden Care, had been issued with an improvement notice by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) following an inspection on Thursday, September 15, and another five days later.

The home has been ordered to take action to improve issues around cleanliness, kitchen hygiene, and staffing levels, as well as medication management, and governance systems and processes, by the end of October.

Managers at the home say they have met with families and will ensure feedback is put into an action plan.

Ms King said: “They left her in bed all the time – she wasn’t bed bound.

“They didn’t hoist her into her chair or into activities – we agreed to put her in there so she would have company.

“Only two occasions did she get out of bed.

"In the evenings there was no cook, her dinner was a toasted tea cake – this was the only thing she would eat until breakfast in the morning.

 “Where’s the nutrition in that.

“These people need fresh fruit and vegetables - they need a proper diet; they told me there was no cook, so they’ll go to the chippy.

“The number of times I went there, and the catheter wasn’t draining into the bag properly – it was all going back into mums’ kidneys.

“I had to flip it myself as the bag was going to burst because they had a night bag attached to a leg bag. 

“The urine was going back up because the bag was so full, and she started urinating blood.

“She deteriorated so quick.”

Ms Mapps died on Wednesday, October 12 – she joined the care home in May because she broke her hip and has lost mobility.

Outside Llanyravon Care Home picture: Street View (Image: Street View)

Outside Llanyravon Care Home picture: Street View

Ms King said: “I was phoned at 4am saying I had to come down because my mum is dying, and she needs end of life medication.

“I rang my family and friends and relayed this to them, I rang the home in the morning for them to tell me mum is now fine.

“When she went into hospital, I had a phone call from them saying was I aware of the multiple pressure sores she had.”

The home was also issued a food hygiene rating of one in August, with inspectors saying "major improvement" was needed in management of food safety, and improvement was also needed in hygienic food handling.

Ian Johnson also raised his concerns over the treatment his father-in-law received.

Mr Johnson said: “They are spectacularly over stretched; I saw a buzzer with a wait time of over an hour - the coffee area was absolutely filthy.

“The buzzer would go constantly, and no one is paying any attention to it.

“On August bank holiday weekend on the Sunday he started running a fever.

“No one was checking on him - when we got someone, they couldn’t find a thermometer, couldn’t find or have access to his records, they weren’t aware that he wasn’t to be resuscitated.

“I rang 999 myself, the paramedics were appalled and they gave him emergency medication.

“Their recommendation was that he wasn’t getting the medical care that he needed there, and St David’s Hospice got a charity to come in and check in on him because they weren’t satisfied that his £1,200 a week care was good enough.”

Mr Johnson’s father-in-law died on September 1 from cancer.

Mr John said: “We arrived first thing the next morning, when you press the buzzer, you would wait 20 minutes to half an hour before anyone answered.

“They knew my father-in-law died - the manager was outside on the phone but she didn’t let us in, we got through by the cleaner.

“We went into the office – they stared at me and my husband they didn’t say hello or offer their apologies – we asked them for the process about when someone dies but they didn’t know that or his GP’s number.

“They would turn up and give him a sandwich – if it wasn’t for the cancer he probably would have died of malnutrition.”

Llanyravon Care Home were contacted for a comment.