Why were they left to die? Social services ignored pleas to help frail pensioners Jean and Derek Randall. A month later they were found dead
Published
12th Jan 2010
Old, frail and struggling with the bitter weather, it was obvious that Jean and Derek Randall's lives were at risk.
As Mr Randall's health failed and he accepted he could no longer look after his wheelchair-bound wife, a neighbour and the couple's MP contacted social services, the NHS and even Age Concern in the search for a care home place. But, despite weeks of phone calls, no help was provided.
Last Thursday a concerned neighbour looked through the couple's letterbox and spotted 76-year-old Mr Randall lying dead in the hallway.
Police forced their way into the 'freezing cold' bungalow and found Mrs Randall, 79, dead in her bed with a small heater on.
Mr Randall probably passed away first. His wife then died because there was no one to feed her or bring her drinks.
Last night a neighbour declared: 'I believe they died because everyone who is supposed to care for the elderly in our society did not do it. Everyone passed the buck.'
The couple, who would have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in March, may have been dead for five days.
The appalling case in Kingsthorpe, a suburb of Northampton, highlights the pitiful conditions millions of pensioners have to put up with - an issue highlighted by the Mail's Dignity for the Elderly campaign.
Mr Randall, a shy man, first approached a neighbour for help on November 30. The first calls to different agencies went in on December 1 and were repeatedly followed up.
In all, at least 15 calls were made by neighbours. On December 21, neighbour Heather Footitt feared there was a danger that the couple could die and told local Labour MP Sally Keeble. She, too, demanded action but nothing was done.
Last night Northampton North MP Mrs Keeble called for an inquiry and said she had written to Health Secretary Andy Burnham about the tragedy after revealing her pleas for the couple to receive support had fallen on deaf ears.
'I am deeply shocked and quite outraged that weeks of phone calls and effort on their behalf to get Northamptonshire social services to carry out an assessment on their condition has ended in such a tragic way,' she said.
'There was a major failure in the way in which the caring services responded to this couple. There needs to be an inquiry so we can learn lessons from this, so it doesn't get swept under the carpet.
'I also suspect that the failings that led to this tragedy are not confined to Northampton, so lessons can be learned everywhere.
'It was an appalling way for this couple to have to die and it was also probably completely needless.'
Mrs Keeble said the couple's plight would have come to the attention of the authorities two years ago, when Mrs Randall went into hospital for a hip replacement.
After that, she added, arrangements for providing assistance, such as adapting their privately-owned home or providing carers, should have been straightforward. No such improvements were made.
Mr and Mrs Randall, whose only son, David, was severely handicapped and died in his teens, were last seen on January 2. Their bodies were discovered on Thursday.
Mrs Footitt, 73, who regularly delivered hot meals to the pair, said she had noticed former shop worker Mr Randall's health had deteriorated rapidly.
She said she had warned the county council, health officials and Age Concern about their need for help.
She added that she made daily attempts to get the council to act as the winter weather tightened its grip.
'I kept phoning them and they kept passing it on,' she said. 'They would ask me my name, ask me my address and say they would get someone to contact Mr Randall but nothing was done.
'The next day I got on the phone to someone else and got the same response. And so it went on.
'I last spoke to Derek on January 2 when I went round because he had asked me to bring him jelly and ice cream,' she said. 'I don't know what heating they had but the cold couldn't have helped.
'I am furious this has been allowed to happen and I even predicted it would. Jean could not do anything for herself at all and Derek got to the point where he simply could not cope with lifting her, doing her washing or anything.
'When I spoke to him before Christmas, he said he might be able to cope if Jean was taken into a home so we contacted everyone we could possibly think of to come out and get their needs assessed - but nobody came.'
Mrs Footitt said last night that Age Concern told her the case was none of her business because she is not a relative of the Randalls.
Her brother, Ian Walters, 70, who also helped care for the couple, said he was shocked no one had taken responsibility.
'It is disgusting that it came to this. I believe they died because everyone who is supposed to care for the elderly in our society did not do it.'
Another neighbour, care assistant Landa Kaceli, 33, said she had knocked on the couple's door ten times after returning from a Christmas holiday.
The mother of two called police after peering through the letterbox and seeing Mr Randall lying in the hallway.
'I entered the house with the police and it was freezing cold inside. I was warmer before I went in the front door,' she said.
Police are awaiting the results of post-mortem examinations and preparing a file for the coroner.
Northamptonshire County Council said: 'We are working with our partners to look into the circumstances.' NHS Northamptonshire refused to comment on an ongoing case, other than to say it was 'investigating the situation'.
Age Concern admitted it had been notified about the Randalls before Christmas and said the case would be reviewed.
Chief executive Liam Condron said: 'It seems there was not enough information in that referral so the staff involved went back to the county council for more details.
'The last contact we had with the couple was when Mr Randall called us asking for information about help, on December 16, and this was sent out straight away.
'From what we can gather, the situation for the Randalls then deteriorated fairly rapidly.'
Source: '
Daily Mail '
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