Dementia in all its guises is a bastard condition. Yes, it’s possible to live well with it. But in the end you lose your mind, your dignity and, ultimately, your life.
And so it was with my mum, Sheila – although not in the way I’d imagined. In October 2022 she was brutally attacked and beaten in her care home by another resident and died in hospital a few hours later without regaining consciousness. I was with her when she died.
Her attacker is now dead too. As a family we bore her no ill will. She too was a victim of the disease and was almost certainly not aware of her actions or their fatal consequences.
But the home in which they were both being “cared” for – the HC-One-owned Ridgeway Lodge in Dunstable – had some difficult questions to answer. Initially the police and eventually the coroner got to the bottom of what happened. As a family we are grateful to both for their thorough investigations. We’re also grateful to HC-One and, in particular, to the chief executive at the time, James Tugendhat, for being open and honest about the significant failings that led to our mother’s death. I can now say with confidence that the lessons learned have improved the safety of some of society’s most vulnerable citizens.
Last updated 30/01/2026
