A MAN who lost both his parents to lung cancer in less than six months has spoken of his anger after the local council failed to provide timely care to his dying father, and blames the stress for driving his mother "to an early grave".
Kenny Boyle said his family were "badly let down" over delays by Clackmannanshire Council in assessing the care needs of his 75-year-old father which left himself, his mother and his sister looking after the terminally ill pensioner alone.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a care plan within six weeks. However, staff shortages caused by sick leave meant that the family went without an occupational therapist for nearly six months and no assessment report was completed before James Boyle - known as 'Gus' - passed away in July last year, seven months after the council carried out their initial care assessment.
Handrails to the back and front of the property were not fitted for almost five months, by which time Gus Boyle was already too sick to leave the house, and the council has accepted that there was also a "considerable delay" in adapting the bathroom with disability aides.
The family were given commodes and bath boards to help Mr Boyle with toileting and bathing, but his son said they were never trained in how to use them safely resulting in "accidental injuries to my father and my mother".
Mr Boyle, 50, from Alloa, was devastated again in November when his mother, Janette, died just days after she too was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer - despite doctors giving her six months to live. He said the "strong-willed" 74-year-old, who was Scotland's first ever female alcohol sales rep and continued working right up until her husband's illness, simply "gave up".
He said: "She saw how the council let my father down and she wasn't prepared to go through that or to put me or my sister through that. I think she just gave up. My father's death was protracted, but with my mother it was a shock. The stress of it all sent her to an early grave."
In August, a council blunder also saw a letter sent to Gus Boyle - six weeks after his death - billing him £2.40 a week backdated to mid-June for a falls monitoring service. Then in November, Mr Boyle and his sister Christine were upset again when the council's top level complaints review hearing into their father's case went ahead without hearing any evidence from either of them because it coincided with the day of their mother's sudden death.
Mr Boyle said they were disappointed that no offer was made to reschedule the hearing, and angered on receiving a letter from the review chair saying that she was "sorry we didn't have the opportunity to hear from you due to family responsibilities".
"My mother had just died hours after getting into a hospice - I wouldn't class that as a 'family responsibility'," said Mr Boyle.
Mr Boyle's complaint over the shortcomings in his father's care has now been upheld by the council, but he said he remains angry that there is no sanction for councils which breach their statutory responsibilities on care.
He said: "It's window dressing. What's the point if there is no comeback? Goldfish have more rights than my parents did. I was phoning on a weekly basis and they did nothing."
A spokesman for Clackmannanshire Council said: "The Council fully investigated the circumstances in relation to the service offered to Mr Boyle’s parents and found failings in the social work service. The Council upheld Mr Boyle’s complaint and offered an unreserved apology.
"The Head of Social Services has ensured that information on the errors that occurred has been disseminated across the workforce to ensure staff reflect and learn form this situation."
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