Iris Farmer, 80, who lived alone, was discovered by her family dead on the floor of her Invercargill house on January 7 this year, after last being visited by a HealthCare NZ worker on December 31.
Daughter Pauline Kingsland said she was upset with the way her mother died and the failure of HealthCare NZ to stick to procedures.
‘‘Just not being able to view her or anything like that. And the circumstances — we still don't know the cause of death.
‘‘Like, was it instant? Was it days?
‘‘The coroner couldn't determine the cause of death.
‘‘So we're still waiting for pathologies to come back and that could still take months.’’
Mrs Kingsland still remembered entering the house on January 7.
Luckily, her husband did not allow her to see her mother lying in the bedroom.
She said her mother most likely died on December 31 as she turned over her calendar every day and it was still on this date when she was found.
Mrs Kingsland wanted to share her story so other people would not have to go through the same experience.
Mrs Farmer had support workers come to her house three times a week to shower her and someone to help round the house once a week.
Mrs Farmer had cancelled two appointments with her support workers earlier in December.
On December 31, the worker was told by Mrs Farmer she did not want a shower and was not feeling well.
The worker was assured by Mrs Farmer she did not need urgent medical support.
The worker reported through a mobile app to her operations team that Mrs Farmer was unwell, but did not call her service centre to lodge a report on Mrs Farmer, which should have been done.
The regional service facilitator had then wrongly come to the view Mrs Farmer had communicated with the hospital and that no further follow-up was needed.
Just over an hour after refusing the support worker, Mrs Farmer rang the service centre and cancelled her next two appointments.
As it had been done before, the cancellations were allowed but the service facilitator should have confirmed with Mrs Farmer a medical review was arranged.
This was not carried out.
On January 5, a support worker knocked on Mrs Farmer’s door and got no answer.
The worker rang the service centre and said the door was not being answered and there were newspapers dating back to December 31 outside the door.
The support facilitator reviewed the rosters and saw Mrs Farmer’s previous two appointments had been cancelled.
The support facilitator suspected Mrs Farmer had gone away for New Year and
wrongly advised the worker Mrs Farmer did not need support.
On January 7, a support worker went to the house to help shower Mrs Farmer.
When no-one came to the door, the proper procedure was followed and
Mrs Kingsland was contacted the same day.
She went to the house with her husband at 4.30pm.
Police arrived at the same time to do a welfare check; Mrs Farmer was found deceased.
Mrs Kingsland said she was very upset with the way her mother had been treated and the errors made by HealthCare NZ.
She had asked for a dedicated timeline from the provider and was disappointed it had taken months for all the details to be revealed.
‘‘They basically admitted that they dropped the ball and they didn't follow procedure.
‘‘There was nothing done, nothing to contact the next of kin, which was myself and my brother, none of that was done until the 7th [of January].
‘‘Finding someone after seven days is not particularly pleasant.’’
In correspondence seen by the Otago Daily Times, HealthCare NZ admitted mistakes had been made and extended its heartful condolences.
The reply to the complaints had taken time, but that was due to the company’s commitment to thoroughly examine the underlying factors of events.
Extensive interviews were carried out and records reviewed.
The company admitted there were two instances on December 31 where processes were not followed.
That had led to the company reviewing the incidents and the issues formally addressed with staff.
Clearer escalation processes would be brought in.
The assumption Mrs Farmer was on holiday was called ‘‘completely unacceptable’’ by HealthCare NZ and had been addressed by senior management.
The company had organised refresher training for support workers and were rolling out refresher training for their service team.
It had changed the system to automatically flag people who did not come to the door as high priority.
The company was strengthening its internal guidance for situations where cancellations were requested.
