Death of Egremont pensioner 'living in squalor' was due to neglect

Daniel Telford, 78, died at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven on February 6.

He had been admitted from his Egremont home three days earlier, where he was found in ‘squalor living conditions’.

His health had been deteriorating and there had been no medical or social intervention, Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard.

Giving evidence, his son Peter Telford said his father had been in a relationship with Sheila Halley since the late 1990s.

He said his father’s house at Thornhill started to get ‘mucky’ and was ‘filled with rubbish’. His father was embarrassed and stopped his children from going inside.

The family stopped going to visit because of the state of the property. Mr Telford and Ms Halley were later evicted from the property after neighbours complained about rats.

Mr Telford said his father and Ms Halley moved to Egremont but the house was in the same state due to hoarding.

He said he later found out his father had lived in a homeless hostel after being told by social services that he couldn’t go back to the house because it was making him ill.

His father had then moved into a housing association flat in Egremont. Mr Telford said Ms Halley ‘started bringing her rubbish’ to the flat.

Mr Telford said the flat was ‘completely filthy’ and ‘turned your stomach’. He said his father had no bed to use and had been sleeping in a chair. It was impossible to cook food in the kitchen.

The inquest heard that Ms Halley was now in a care home. A statement read on her behalf said she had been taken into hospital in September 2022.

She said when she came out, Mr Telford had lost a lot of weight. His health declined rapidly and he had a lot of falls. Ms Halley said she moved in to help with care and ‘did her best’.

The inquest heard evidence from Kirsty Messenger, who prepared a report on behalf of the council’s adult social care department.

Mr Telford was first referred to adult social care services in 2017 but the referral was closed because no ongoing support needs were identified.

A safeguarding referral was made by Cumbria Fire and Rescue on November 9, 2022, after they had been out to complete a check on the smoke alarms. Social services were compelled to carry out a ‘safe and well’ visit due to concerns.

Ms Halley had opened the door and was reluctant to allow access. Hoarding was identified as an issue. There was ‘rubbish laid everywhere’ and a strong smell of urine.

Support services were refused when offered to Mr Telford and his partner. He didn’t meet the threshold for an enquiry at that time, the inquest heard.

On November 10, a further referral was received from Home Group raising concerns over the environment Mr Telford was living in.

Robert Sharples, an agency social worker, visited the property on November 18. Mr Telford would not allow access and they had a conversation at the back door.

He felt that Mr Telford was lacking mental capacity. He attempted to contact Mr Telford’s GP on December 8 and recorded making contact with the surgery.

The inquest heard there had been a delay in Mr Sharples typing up the notes due to pressures over the Christmas period.

Ms Messenger said: “Just because it wasn’t typed up, a decision could have been made prior to that.”

She told the inquest that issues in relation to regular recording had been addressed with the social worker.

Ms Messenger said Cumberland Council had introduced a new strategy for self-neglect which will give further guidance to practitioners about how to deal with the issue.

Dr Fiona Ironside, a retired GP had produced a report from Mr Telford’s medical records, on behalf of Fell View Healthcare in Whitehaven.

Giving evidence, Dr Ironside said Mr Telford’s prescriptions for diabetes medication had not been issued. It had been two years since he was last seen by a GP.

She told the inquest: “I’m not sure we have a system to pick up when people are not ordering their prescription.

“I will be taking back to the practice [that] we need to be looking at the patients who aren’t attending. I think we need to consider the patients who are not picking up.”

Dr Ironside said the practice needed to ensure it was not missing patients with memory problems.

The inquest heard the difficulties faced by Fell View Healthcare, which has 24,000 patients and only three GP partners.

Dr Ironside said she had been impressed by the young GP partnership who were ‘really fighting to get the standards spot on’.

The cause of Mr Telford’s death was given as urosepsis and diabetic ketoacidosis. Cerebrovascular disease and self-neglect were contributing factors.

In his concluding statement, assistant coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw said: “I do think it’s important for us to remember Daniel and Sheila had been in a relationship for over 25 years. It’s a long time.

“Whoever has begun with the hoarding, the other partner seems to have gone along with it.

“We have seen the photos. It’s absolutely appalling. They got used to how they are living and lack the motivational willpower to change it. They have fallen into a downward spiral.

“It’s a matter of regret that no effective action has been taken. Action was taken following the fire service referral but not rapid enough to prevent this.

“It’s a matter of regret that the referral from Mr Sharples to the GP doesn’t seem to have been actioned. We have heard the difficulties faced by the doctors in Whitehaven at the moment.”

Dr Shaw concluded that Mr Telford died due to neglect.