Nursing home resident not given CPR ‘because staff mistook him for another resident’

Today, paramedics allegedly failed to resurrect a dying nursing home resident after his papers were confused with another person of the same name.

Joyce Parrott, 81, died in April 2020 after suffering a heart attack at The Elms in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.

In a court investigation, it was said that they had mistakenly ordered “resuscitation” to ambulance personnel.

His daughter, Caroline Porter, said a nurse “replaced my mother with another Joyce” who didn’t want CPR when her breathing or heartbeat stopped.

He accused the staff of “not doing everything” and said the nurse on duty didn’t even know if he had a defibrillator.

HC-One, which runs the nursing home, apologized to the family.

A spokesperson for The Elms said it was “very regrettable” that “a mistake was made” and that Ms. Parrott’s care plan was not followed.

But experts say it’s “very unlikely” that Ms. Parrott will survive, even if she is brought back to life.

According to the BBC, Ms. Parrott, who suffers from vascular dementia, moved to The Elms in February 2020.

In an investigation earlier this month, a coroner announced that an ambulance was called on 29 April 2020 over Ms. Parrott’s “abnormal” health concerns.

Caroline Jones, coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said she stopped breathing before paramedics arrived.

The BBC reported that he said: “When paramedics arrived, Mrs Parrott had a … [DNR] guidance available, therefore did not initiate CPR.

Medical examinations showed: Miss Parrott’s heart rhythm is asystolic when there is no electrical activity in the organ.

“A few minutes later, Miss Parrott was told she didn’t… [DNR] in place,” added Mrs. Jones.

“He wasn’t breathing for a long time at that point, so CPR didn’t start.”

According to Ms. Porter’s lawyers, Ashtons Legal, one specialist said Ms. Parrott was probably dead, although paramedics performed CPR as soon as they arrived.

But Porter told the publisher: “I understand what the experts mean, but even a small chance is an opportunity, and the opportunity was denied to him.”

She doesn’t think the doctors “done everything” for her mother.

Ms Porter said the nurse who called an ambulance for Ms. Parrot, who believed she had since left the country, did not know if a defibrillator was on the property.

“She was the nurse on duty, shouldn’t she know where the defibrillator is?” said.

Ms Porter said the nurse “acknowledged that she had two care plans, both under the name Joyce, and that she replaced my mother with another Joyce.”

She also told the BBC she was worried about her mother’s care after she was left in dirty underwear at Elms five days before her death.

The staff said they offered Ms. Porter help to change her mother’s clothes, but she refused.

With 37 beds and assistance for over 65s, Elms was judged “in need of improvement” by the Care Quality Commission’s inspection body, which last inspected the home in December.

A spokesperson for The Elms said, “The health, safety and well-being of all our residents is our top priority.

“We are very sorry on this occasion that a mistake was made that prevented this person from being looked after according to the care plan when they became seriously ill.

“Since this historic event occurred, we have made significant changes to the way we communicate important information to our full-time and temporary healthcare workers to ensure that such a mistake does not happen again.

“We immediately strengthened our management systems to be clearer for all our colleagues to refer to quickly, improved our shift transfer processes, and provided an additional support and control framework at home.

“We have also increased our level of control over the senior team and provided improved refresher training to all our colleagues to ensure our strict policies and procedures are fully integrated.

“The survey recognized these improvements and the policies and procedures we have adopted.

We will continue to work hard to ensure that the highest standards of care, quality and governance are maintained so that we can provide the best possible care to our residents.”

This comes after the deaths of three residents of Elms – Margaret Canham, George Lowlett and David Poole – in 2019, weeks after their families complained of “substandard famine”.

The deaths will be investigated during autopsies, but the hospice said many of the claims do not reflect the care given.

Controversial general DNRs introduced during the pandemic have seen more than 500 Brits refuse lifesaving treatment.

During the Covid crisis, an order was placed not to give CPR without consulting patients.