A NUMBER of care homes in the town send residents suffering from dementia to A&E alone.

A Warrington Guardian investigation found people with the condition will in some cases have to wait for a relative to meet them at hospital if care homes are short-staffed or if they need to go to A&E at night.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, 80 per cent of all care home residents have dementia or severe memory problems meaning many will be confused about why they are in A&E with no familiar face to support them.

Of the seven care home groups contacted by the Warrington Guardian, only one, Ashberry Healthcare said a member of staff from Heathercroft nursing home, Woolston, and Meadow View, Penketh, would accompany the resident to hospital every time.

A spokesman from Three Elms home in Penketh said residents would not be accompanied by a member of staff between the hours of 10pm and 8am.

Family are instead contacted to meet their relative in hospital as ‘staff cannot leave the home’ during evening hours.

It is a similar situation for the council-run Padgate House and Woodleigh care home, Callands where families are informed and will meet their relative in A&E.

A spokesman added: “If no family members are available to go to hospital, staff will accompany the patient.

“Incidents of residents having to visit hospital unaccompanied are very rare but this could possibly happen when staffing levels are lower than normal, at night-time for instance.”

Bond Care, which runs Three Bridges in Latchford, said a member of staff will accompany them and stay if a relative cannot get there while HC-One admitted it was not ‘always possible’ at their Callands care home to send a member of staff with the patient.

Harbour Healthcare, which runs the Old Vicarage home in Burtonwood, and L&M, which runs Gainsborough House, did not send a response.

A spokesman from Warrington Hospital said: “Many nursing homes send a carer with a resident when they need hospital treatment in A&E - but it can depend on a home by home and case by case basis.

“It can play a key role in helping the patient as the environment is often one that’s unfamiliar and unsettling to them. “Another challenge is when the patient is admitted to a ward. We will often discuss with the home about the extra support that the patient might need alongside their medical care and some of the homes that specialise in caring for patients with dementia have a system where their staff work with us to support their residents even when they’re in hospital.”

Judy Downey, chairman of the Relatives and Residents Association, said: “Most people are not brave enough to complain as they have still got to deal with the home.
“We have had quite a lot of calls from upset relatives about people being sent to hospital or outpatient appointments with no medication and no idea where they are.
“It’s appalling the way homes decide what’s part of their responsibility and what isn’t.”