Court hears reports of squalid living conditions and neglect

Mr Childs died in hospital after he was rushed from his Salisbury Private Nursing Home with a handkerchief lodged in his throat.

The inquest heard Mr Childs had lost 26 kilograms in the seven months before his death and his daughter, Glenda Curtis, told the court conditions in the home were poor. Ms Curtis claimed to have seen one resident urinating in the hallway while another pushed a medicine trolley along the corridor. She alleged that, in four separate two-hour visits in November 2005, she witnessed residents wandering unsupervised.

She told the court she believed her father, who suffered from alcoholism and dementia, had been neglected by the home in the year before his death.

“His top was soiled, there was urine on his tracksuit pants and you could smell faeces,” Ms Curtis said.”His food from four days ago was just sitting there.”

The court was told that on June 15 2006 nursing staff noticed he was having difficulty breathing and was coughing up phlegm. After examination by a doctor, Mr Childs was diagnosed with bronchitis. It was ten hours later that ambulance workers discovered the handkerchief in Mr Child’s throat and removed it.

Lawyers for the nursing home said Ms Curtis had re-constructed the events that had taken place during her visit to the home and that Mr Childs had not lost nearly as lost weight as she alleged. He said that during the four visits, she had not once told any of the staff about her concerns, and waited until she had returned to her home in Queensland to make a complaint.

There had previously been a homicide investigation but no charges were laid. The inquest continues.