Bupa is facing allegations that its poor care of a resident in Adelaide led to his death. Kevin Williams had been at the Bupa facility at Modbury for 12 weeks, before he died from an infected ulcer on his right hip. His daughter, Jillian Thomson, said he had open wounds, which looked like bed sores, all over him. “One of his hips, the bone was seriously just sticking out … and then his coccyx was black, the skin had died and there was a hole that you could literally see inside of him.” During his stay, Mr Williams’ family claims he was not showered for days and was handled roughly by staff. “He had fingernail cuts in his nose and his mouth. He said they had tried to force his medication in his mouth,” Mrs Thomson said. “I managed to get his shirt off on my own [one day] and on the top part of his right arm, I found a bruise mark with a hand print, it was a hand print. “You couldn’t say it wasn’t, you could see it distinctly, took the other side off and it was exactly the same, like someone had grabbed hold of him and squeezed him so tight.” Mr Williams’ granddaughter, Sharne Thomson, believes the coroner should re-examine his death. The family took their allegations to the coroner in August 2012, when Mr Williams died. They also went to the Federal Government’s Aged Care Complaints Commissioner. Most claims were thrown out due to a lack of evidence but Bupa did give Mr Williams the wrong medication. “We apologise unreservedly for the distress Mr Williams’ family felt and continues to feel,” Bupa said in a statement.
