FAILINGS have been found in the care of an elderly man who died days after being pushed over by an 'aggressive' resident at his nursing home.

The man's daughter, referred to as Mrs X in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman complaint findings, said Yarnton Residential and Nursing Home had not properly assessed the new resident or managed the risk they posed.

Her father, who had dementia and used a walking frame, had lived at the care home since December 2017 and it was in early December the following year that the attack took place.

The care provider called 999 and an ambulance came but paramedics decided he did not need to go to hospital.

The next day staff were concerned he couldn't stand up though and he was referred to hospital, being discharged after X-rays found no obvious injury.

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His condition did not improve and the ombudsman's findings state following discussion between his GP and family it was agreed he would remain at the care home rather than go back to hospital, dying there nine days later.

The home, run by Sanctuary raised a safeguarding alert with Oxfordshire County Council, which commissioned the care.

The authority's own investigation found the provider had raised concerns with the council about the other resident and requested 'a more suitable environment' be found.

It provided one-to-one support when the resident was 'clearly agitated and aggressive' but not at other times and the investigation found this was 'reactive rather than proactive' with a 'lack of handover' between staff about the frequency of aggressive incidents.

However, it added one-to-one support might not have prevented the incident 'as it only takes a moment to push someone' and ultimately found the allegation of neglect 'partially substantiated'.

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The ombudsman decision said it 'found no fault' in the council investigation and its recommendations were found 'appropriate' by the coroner, who concluded an inquest into the death in June last year.

The coroner said the man died due to a bone fracture, caused by being pushed, and worsening of an underlying health condition.

The ombudsman findings said there was fault by the care provider but it 'has taken appropriate action' to learn from them.

A spokesperson for the council said it accepted the outcome and 'acknowledge that there were failings in the care provided' adding: "We’re working closely with the care provider in question to ensure that we make necessary improvements to our services to make sure such instances like this do not happen again.”

Sheila O’Connor, director of operations at Sanctuary care, said: “We have acted on the recommendations and the ombudsman has acknowledged the required improvements have been made.

"The ‘Good’ rating achieved by the care home in June 2019 shows these improvements have been sustained and we remain committed to offering the highest possible standards of care to all our residents.”