The son of a 100-year-old woman who died last year after living with undiagnosed scabies will argue for better standards in rest homes in a coronial inquiry into his mother's death.
After several months at Tauranga home Cedar Manor, Eileen Harper was admitted to Tauranga Hospital in early September, where it
took eight days before a specialist dermatologist confirmed "diffuse crusted scabies".
Son Geoff Harper described how his mother was "writhing in pain on her hospital bed, scratching at the undiagnosed scabies rash, in the end drawing blood".
"They had to put stockings around her hands to stop her from scratching. It was all avoidable. If she had been diagnosed months earlier and treated she'd still be with us."
She was treated with insecticide cream, and with antibiotics and antifungals, and then discharged to a level 5 care rest home, where she died three days later.
Mr Harper believes there was negligence on the parts of five parties involved, including the two rest homes and Bay of Plenty District Health Board.
A coroner's inquest has now been launched and Mr Harper, who has compiled 700 pages of research into rest homes since the death, hopes to expose what he considers a "gross dysfunction" in the provision of service to vulnerable people in rest homes.
"This has now become a multi-faceted research project and what I'm finding is that systemic failures have been allowed right throughout the system."
Coronial services have confirmed an inquiry has been launched but no date for an inquest has been set.
