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Iqbal Singh Gulatee with his wife Muriel
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Pensioner, 88, has three week wait for a bath

By Hugh Fort
March 10, 2010

An 88-year-old dementia sufferer was not given a bath for three weeks because care staff refused to use hoisting equipment even though it was new.

A further blunder over paperwork led to staff claiming she had not applied for help bathing, even though it clearly states her husband had.

Under an agreement with Bracknell Forest Council’s social services Muriel Gulatee is given a bath three times a week, at a weekly cost of £15.75.

A chair hoist was installed to help her in and out of the bath.

However, husband Iqbal says a series of errors meant she was not bathed for three weeks and only washed by hand.

He said the care company, Care UK, told him that they would not use the new equipment unless a service history was produced.

However, because it was new it did not have a service history.

Mr Gulatee said: “It was new, it did not have a service history. They wasted more money putting in a new one.”

This meant a three-week delay before the new chair was fitted and she was able to have the bath they have paid for.

The situation has now been resolved, but Mr Gulatee, of Richmond Road, College Town, Sandhurst, is angry at the service they have received.

He said: “We have been with social services for the last three years.

“My wife sufferers from dementia and a bad heart and recently we had to upgrade the service from a wash to a bath. I filled out the form to change it. Three times people have turned up and told me that we have not applied to be bathed and it is only a wash she needs.”

Iqbal, originally from India, has lived in this country for 55 years.

He added: “Looking after someone who suffers from dementia is extremely hard, especially when I have difficulty moving around. This has added a lot of stress.”

The couple’s daughter Tara, who lives abroad but regularly visits her parents, said: “I don’t think the harness was broken at all as I used it to give mum a bath.

“I’ve seen some staff from the care company who seemed pretty confused about what we needed.”

A spokeswoman for Care UK added: “We are committed to delivering safe and high quality care.

Just occasionally, our carers come across equipment in the homes of people that we care for which is potentially unsafe or not working correctly.

“In these situations we work hard to find an alternative way of delivering care until the equipment is repaired. This is the approach that we followed in this case.”

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