(Jamaica Observer) WHEN Tamoya Rainford and her two sisters were no longer able to provide the necessary care for their mother, who has been battling Parkinson’s disease for the last 10 years, they thought sending her to a private nursing home was the best option.
However, since placing her in the home last year, things only got worse.
Last month, when Rainford went to visit her mother, 58-year-old Faylyn, at the nursing home that is in St Catherine, she said she had maggots in her mouth.
Rainford, the eldest of Faylyn’s three children, told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that on the ninth of February, when she was informed by a nurse at the facility that her mother, who uses a nasogastric feeding tube, was out of supplements, she went to the facility.
“When I went there I noticed that my mother’s mouth was swollen. I asked the nurse what happened, her mouth is swollen? She said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘No, man, something is wrong,’ Within my mind, I was thinking that they hit her or she brush too hard so it swell her mouth. I went closer and when I looked I saw maggots coming out her mouth,” the daughter recounted.
She pointed out that she pays the nursing home $40,000 per month to take care of her mother. In addition to that, she told the Observer they also provide supplements for their bed-ridden mother, who has been plagued by a number of medical conditions, including stroke and heart attack.
Rainford, who made it clear that she and her siblings had not neglected their mother, said she went to the facility twice that same week and her mother had appeared to be clean.
The woman said immediately after she saw the maggots, she took her mother to a doctor who advised that she take her to a hospital.
Her mother was later admitted at the Kingston Public Hospital, where she said she was told that a computed tomography (CT) scan was needed to see how far the maggots had gone.
Rainford, who was unable to pay for the CT scan, told the Observer that when she contacted the owner of the nursing home, she was allegedly told that there was no agreement for the facility to stand the cost or a percentage of the cost if a resident is injured at the home.
According to her, the CT scan that was scheduled for Monday was not done.
She explained that on the day when the scan was initially supposed to be done, the doctor was unable to find her mother’s vein in order to insert the needle for the intravenous fluid.
A day later, Rainford said the doctors were still unable to locate her mother’s vein.
She further explained that she was told by a doctor a few days later that the maggots were gone.
Her mother was later discharged from hospital. However, she remained at the institution for a few days because her daughter was unable to find another facility in which to house her.
Insisting that her mother’s condition has worsened since the discovery of the maggots, Rainford is adamant that the nursing home should be held to account.
She told the Observer that when she reported the matter to the Ministry of Health, she was told that the facility was not registered.
When the Observer sought a response from the operator of the nursing home yesterday, the operator said she was not aware of the complaint and accused the newspaper of creating mischief before disconnecting the call.
