A St George family that is grieving the loss of their ‘patriach’, Sam Epsimos, after he died following a fall at an aged care facility, has welcomed the federal government’s Royal Commission into nursing homes.
Mr Epsimos, 84, hit his head on the floor of an aged care home in St George, in December 2014, after he was left unattended in his room.
The morning of the fall, Mr Epsimos asked for help to use the bathroom because he could not walk on his own.
One of the staff raised his bed and removed the safety bars, before leaving him alone for three minutes.
Mr Epsimos fell to the ground. He was rushed to St George Hospital where he died of his injuries a week later.
He had suffered a large right subdural haematoma – a torn blood vessel in the brain.
A coronial inquest found that his death was caused by the fall. It found that the raised bed contributed to the severity of the fall, and that Mr Epsimos did not receive prompt medical attention.
The inquest called on the St George facility to review its processes and staffing levels.
Mr Epsimos’ son John, of Penshurst, says he and his brother Chris and their mother Toula, were struggling to accept what happened, four years later.
John says his father was unable to physically roll himself out of bed, and was required to have two staff members to help him get in and out of bed.
“He was in high care and procedures should have been taken to ensure this didn’t happen,” he said.
“The bed was raised at its highest point, they didn’t use crash mats – they were tucked under the bed. They didn’t immediately activate the emergency buzzer after dad was found on the floor.”
He said the substandard care provided by the home was not good enough.
“Clearly there was negligence and unfortunately it’s my father and our family who have had to suffer as a result of it,” he said.
“Since the fall, he would have spent time with two great-grandchildren, who he will never get to meet – our family is distraught.”
With the recent announcement of a Royal Commission into aged care, which will examine the quality of care provided to people living in residential care, the family, hopes changes are made.
They are also pursuing the case through lawyers Slater and Gordon.
“We are doing this not for personal gain but for mum,” John said.
“It’s to give her a quality of life. She used to catch the bus to go see dad and now her own health is suffering.”