Bungling care home bosses wrongly told me that my mother was dead

A CARE home has apologised to a family after mistakenly informing them that their mother was dead.

Michelle Bolt said she was “livid and disgusted” when she received the “sympathy” letter referring to the “recent loss” of her mother, Gwen Ramsay.

Her mother, who suffers from dementia, had actually been transferred to another unit because the home could no longer care for her needs.

Mrs Bolt, from Rosehearty in Aberdeenshire, received the letter from Inverness-based Meallmore Group only a few weeks after her mother had been moved out of Glencairn Lodge Care Home in Fraserburgh because of a deterioration in her condition.

Mrs Ramsay, a former factory supervisor who is now 59, was first diagnosed as suffering from dementia when she was only 51 and now requires specialist care.

Mrs Bolt said she had been astounded when she opened the letter. It came with a rebate cheque for her mother’s stay at the care home and was headed: “Re The late Gwen Ramsey – Glencairn Lodge Care Home”.

Mrs Bolt said: “Not only had they told me my mum was dead, they had spelt her name wrong.”

The letter, signed by an administration assistant at Meallmore, continued: “May we first offer our sincere condolences on the recent loss of your mother and apologise for disturbing you at this sad time.

“Please find enclosed a summary of your late mother’s account showing a credit balance and a cheque to clear this balance.”

Mrs Bolt said: “I was livid and disgusted.

“My mother had been at the home for more than year and they couldn’t be bothered getting their facts straight.

“I got the letter on a Saturday which was probably a good thing because it gave me time to calm down before I could speak to anybody.”

Mrs Bolt explained that her mother had been moved out of Glencairn following a deterioration in her condition and had been admitted to the Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen for assessment while she waited for a suitable care home place to become available.

She said: “I knew my mother hadn’t died because I knew exactly where she was and I had spoken to the hospital that morning.

“But the letter was really upsetting. The last thing you need when you are worrying about your mum is to get a letter saying she had died.”

Mrs Bolt said the blunder had only served to highlight the critical problem facing dementia patients with special needs in the Buchan area.

There are no care homes in Fraserburgh which have elderly mentally infirm units.

The nearest units are in Peterhead 20 miles away and their waiting lists are full.

Cillian Hennessey, assistant general manager at Meallmore, said: “I am horrified at our error in sending a letter of condolence to Mrs Ramsay’s daughter and I would like to apologise unreservedly for that mistake.

“We have taken steps to try to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”

An NHS Grampian spokesman declined to comment on individual cases, but added: “We would always wish to treat patients with dementia, as close to home as possible.”