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Saw this today !
The body of an elderly woman lay undiscovered in her flat for up to five years.
The badly decomposed body of Isabella Purves, who would have been 90 this year, was found by police earlier this week.
Officers forced their way into her flat in the Canonmills area of Edinburgh after a neighbour reported water dripping through the ceiling.
They had to fight their way through piles of unopened mail behind her front door. It is thought her pension was paid directly into a bank account and utility bills were paid by direct debit. Police are trying to trace her relatives.
Neighbours in Rodney Street spoke of their horror at the discovery.
Giovanni Cilia, who owns the Fioritalia florist below Ms Purves’s traditional tenement flat, said he was shocked at how long it took to find her.
He said: “How did no one notice the smell, or wonder where she was? I heard there was a big pile of letters and bills behind the door. I used to see her walk past the shop maybe four times a week. She would often go across the street and pick up litter to clean the place up.”
Mr Cilia, who has run the shop for 20 years, added: “It’s shocked everyone here. When I saw her she looked quite fit and healthy for her age.
“She used to wear boots and would often carry a rucksack like she enjoyed going for walks.”
Douglas McLellan, of Age Concern and Help the Aged in Scotland, said it was a “tragic case”.Caring sharing society eh
This last couple of weeks in work wev’e had workmen in doing lots of jobs around the place.
One of them I was chatting with in the week, was telling me his wife is a carer. Due to this hot weather she’d called in to one or two elderly people earlier in the week, not actually, on her ‘patch’ so to speak, but concerned for them due to the hot weather. She found one elderly lady, in bed, fully clothed, wringing wet. She tried to undress the lady to get her washed and more comfortable. As she undressed her, her skin was coming away with her clothes. She called an ambulance and the old lady was taken to hospital, where she sadly died, during the night.
The woman went back to the old ladys house after leaving the hospital and picked up the report book, that these carers have to fill in on a daily basis, care given, how the patient was etc etc., It had all been duly filled in with care given, washed changed left comfortable etc., She then contacted her manager and told her what had happened. The care clearly hadn’t been given as described and heads were going to roll apparently. Where I live, pple have cares coming in every day. One in particular arrives at around 9pm and leaves at around 9.05pm. These so called carers are mostly on a pretty good hourly rate, they get paid by the hour or half hour, however long theyre supposed to be with a client, but some, not all, but some! dont follow through. I hope these ones that dont, never find themselves in a position of having to rely on someone else to care for them. If they do, I wonder how they’d cope, in being treated the way the elderly lady who died was, or not cared for in her case :twisted:
I hope theyre sacked and never allowed to work in the profession again, but we all know that wont happen :evil:
Shocking ….. but sadly this seems to be becoming a more regular occurence.
How awful must it be to be that alone in the world that noone’s at all bothered when you are not heard from or seen for years. :(
As for the so called carers Carol speaks of I see it all the time in my work, sheer neglect.
I know the elderly/ disabled can be cantankerous bugga’s at times but, are basic needs such as to be clean fed & as comfortable as can be to much to ask of the so called carers.
Show any compassion though & you run the risk of being classed as an interfering busybody – Don’t we live in a great society these days. :-s
@pepsi wrote:
………….. He said: “How did no one notice the smell……..”.
Well it was the Canonmills area of Edinburgh !!!!!!
Having worked in the care profession Sarah, it’s hard not to show compassion at times isnt it but understand what your saying.
I can’t though, not in any way shape or form understand how the so called carers who were supposed to look after this lady, can sleep at night! They must be made of steel.
It’s usually too, people like this who, if it were a relative of thiers were treated in this way, they’d be calling for action, very very loudly
A note to PB.
‘They say we should judge a society by how it treats its elders’
Ok something doesn’t sit right with the account the shop keeper who lived downstairs gave, they commented that they used to see the old lady up to 4 times a day walking past the shop so why when for the past 5 years they have not seen her did they not at least attempt to see if she was ok? Sheer case of not my business crap. Poor lady.
With regard to the carers thing, my friend is a carer on a dementia team, she has to go into an old man who lives in one room of his own house, the rest of the house is resided in by his granddaughter who is in her late teens, sometimes when my friend goes to feed the old man, she looks in the cupboards and finds tesco value 99p meal set aside for him on his shelf of the fridge when the rest of the fridge is laidened with nice food for the rest of the family. The grand-daughter is supposed to check on her grandad as part of living with him but often he is left for hours without seeing anyone but a carer popping in. Apparently he has to sometimes listen to his grand-daughters parties and sex sessions. I am sorry but what the hell is wrong with some people?????
@melody wrote:
Ok something doesn’t sit right with the account the shop keeper who lived downstairs gave, they commented that they used to see the old lady up to 4 times a day walking past the shop so why when for the past 5 years they have not seen her did they not at least attempt to see if she was ok? Sheer case of not my business crap. Poor lady.
With regard to the carers thing, my friend is a carer on a dementia team, she has to go into an old man who lives in one room of his own house, the rest of the house is resided in by his granddaughter who is in her late teens, sometimes when my friend goes to feed the old man, she looks in the cupboards and finds tesco value 99p meal set aside for him on his shelf of the fridge when the rest of the fridge is laidened with nice food for the rest of the family. The grand-daughter is supposed to check on her grandad as part of living with him but often he is left for hours without seeing anyone but a carer popping in. Apparently he has to sometimes listen to his grand-daughters parties and sex sessions. I am sorry but what the hell is wrong with some people?????
Good question & deserves an answer but I’m damned if Iknow? :-k
No over 80 check from either a GP or Health Visitor..no friends, family or neighbours
That is absolutely the saddest thing I’ve heard for a long time….5 years and no-one noticed she’d died :(
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