An elderly woman was mistakenly fed dog food by carers just weeks before her death, an inquiry has revealed.
The woman, from Portsmouth, was cared for by care workers employed by Radis who were contracted to provide home care for the city council.
A report into the incident found the care the woman received, commissioned by the council, amounted to a “significant personal injustice”.
Investigators found a litany of errors, which included force-feeding and sometimes not feeding her at all, as well as leaving her on her own for “prolonged periods of time”.
In the report, the woman, named only as “Mrs Y” to protect her and her family’s identity, was an “older adult” who received domiciliary, or at-home, care from GP Homecare Ltd, otherwise known as Radis.
The majority of her care was provided while she was confined to bed following a fall in April 2024, which left her with reduced mobility, reports The News.
Her son raised safeguarding concerns about a “lack of management oversight at Radis”, accusing staff of failing to refer to her care plan.
He also alleged visits were recorded inaccurately and a “Do Not Attempt Resuscitation” document was found “scrunched up in a cupboard”.
Portsmouth City Council has apologised for the incident
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WIKICOMMONS
After she suffered a mini-stroke, the family of Mrs Y and Radis agreed she needed a “soft diet due to the increased risk of choking”.
During a visit from two care workers in mid-June 2024, one care worker cooked and fed her what was recorded as a “lamb dinner”.
The following week, the second care worker raised concerns about the visit, including witnessing the first care worker “feed dog food” to Mrs Y, having only realised the meat was dog food, “when they noticed the packaging in the kitchen”.
When they attempted to report the incident to a senior colleague but received no answer, only reporting what had happened in person a week later
The company’s senior manager demanded the care workers to remove the dog food from the freezer (file pic)
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GETTYDuring the meeting, the senior manager asked them “why they did not remove the dog food” during the visit, “why they did not report the incident on the day it happened”.
The senior manager then demanded they remove the food from the freezer “to prevent any other care workers doing the same”.
The report would later find the care worker “fed three mouthfuls of microwaved dog food to Mrs Y”.
It read: “This was vacuum-packed dog food stored by Mrs Z in Mrs Y’s freezer. The food was labelled as ‘fresh take on dog food’ and ‘for adult dogs and puppies'”.
The packaging was labelled ‘dog food’
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GETTY
A meeting between Radis and Mrs Y’s family followed, and they requested a new provider. However, when her health worsened, the family delayed the change so Radis could continue her end-of-life care.
Later in July 2024, she died with the coroner concluding she died from frailty of old age.
Cabinet member for community wellbeing, health and care Councillor Matthew Winnington, said: “We accept the Ombudsman’s findings in full and recognise the seriousness of what happened in this case.
“We ended our contract with Radis early and we no longer work with, or commission services from them.
The council has apologised for the incident (file pic)
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GETTYCouncillor Winnington continued: “The care described in this report is not the standard anyone should expect, particularly at such a vulnerable time in someone’s life.
“We have apologised to the family and are very sorry for the distress they have experienced; we know this has been deeply upsetting for the family.
“We have accepted all the actions the Ombudsman has recommended including refunding care costs and making financial payments to recognise the impact on the family.
“These events happened two years ago, and since then we have taken action to strengthen how we oversee care providers. This includes closer monitoring where there are risks, informal inspection and clearer processes for escalating serious issues.”
Radis Community Care said it ‘voluntarily withdrew’ from providing services
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PARadis responded to Mrs Z’s complaint in late July 2024. It accepted fault in the care provided, confirmed the action taken against the care workers and apologised. However, it did not agree to the remedies sought.
In October, the council concluded its safeguarding investigation, finding failings including a lack of mobility support, providing stale or inedible food, failing to monitor and record food and fluid intake, and medication not being independently accessible.
The investigation also found Mrs Y was “left unattended for prolonged periods and on occasions left wet or in darkness overnight”.
Radis Community Care said it “voluntarily withdrew” from providing services in Portsmouth at the end of 2025.
It said it had improved its services and procedures and was no longer employing the care worker involved, adding: “The fact that dog food was mistakenly provided was wholly unacceptable.”