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Jeanette Clayton and Lisa Burkinshaw often talk about their mum Rita in the past tense.

Not because she's no longer here, but because the 77-year-old is one of the 900,000 people in Britain living with dementia.

Once "the life and soul of the party" who won a "glamorous Granny" competition, she now barely remembers her daughters, or the life she once lived.

Jeanette and Lisa say coming to terms with their mother's condition has been made harder by the fact they believe she was failed by the people who looked after her, alleging that between 2021 and last year, she was neglected while living at Abbey Grange Care and Nursing Home in Sheffield.

As well as Rita's daughters, Sky News has also spoken to the family members of another former resident at Abbey Grange and a former member of staff at the home, which was rated as "good" in all categories by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July 2022.

In that inspection, the CQC found "people received safe care at Abbey Grange", while "staff understood how to protect people from the risk of harm".

It also concluded "incidents and accidents at the home were well-managed".

For Jeanette and Lisa, however, their first issues with the home began when they noticed their mother was often in soiled clothes.

"I sat down in chairs, many a time, soaked with urine," remembered Jeanette.

"Every time we went, my mum was wet through, we were having to ask them to change her."

She also alleges that on one occasion, Rita wasn't showered for more than three weeks.

As well as alleged hygiene issues, the pair say they would often find their mother sitting in an uncomfortable position, with her head hanging low and neck unsupported.

"I once walked in and there were three carers, with their coats on, standing there watching my mum folded in half in a chair. I said, 'has anybody thought to bring a pillow in for her?'," remembered Lisa.

They also had concerns about how frequently their mum would fall, leaving her with facial bruises and other injuries, which in their minds were linked to a lack of staff working on the floor of Abbey Grange she was staying on.

"We understand the elderly are more vulnerable to fall," said Lisa, "but it was just the fact they were nearly all unwitnessed."

Those issues were echoed by the daughter and grandson of another resident, who stayed at Abbey Grange between 2022 and 2023.

"We noticed, when we came to visit, he was always in dirty clothes, and he had a smell about him, an unclean smell," said the former resident's daughter.

"We started to notice the poo was dried on. When we tried to clean him, it was hurting him, he was in pain, and obviously he must have been sat in that for a long time, for him to get like that."

"I started to ask, 'what's going on? This can't be normal; this can't be right'."

The resident's grandson, who also regularly came to visit him, also had concerns about his alleged lack of physical and mental stimulation, especially as someone who enjoyed spending time outside before he fell ill.

"He was always an active bloke, he was always doing something, he used to walk into town, he would cycle, he was always doing something, so to then be in a tiny room, just sat in silence, it's horrible to think about."

Their relative was eventually moved to another home, where he died. His family say they feel regret about him being placed in Abbey Grange.

"He basically used to cry, but he couldn't tell us what he was crying for," said his daughter.

"He used to say, I'm trapped here, I'm trapped, I can't get out."

Both the family of this man, and Rita's daughters Jeanette and Lisa feel the issues they faced were linked to staff not being well-equipped to deal with the complex needs of their loved ones.

Sky News has also learned that there is no mandatory dementia training for staff working in care homes, an issue Britain's leading dementia charity says is part of an adult social care system that is failing people with the illness.

In a statement, Jennifer Keen, the Head of Policy at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Dementia is the UK's biggest killer.

"There are 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK, and although the majority of people who draw on adult social care have dementia, the social care system is not currently set up properly to meet their needs.

"Decades of underfunding by successive governments has resulted in dementia care that is costly, difficult to access, and too often not personalised.

"Not all care staff have the understanding and skills in the specific care needs of someone living with dementia."

A former staff member at Abbey Grange who had their own issues about training, spoke to Sky News.

They stated they originally began working at the home having completed training online, but not in person at the home. She says this meant she had to "learn on the job", on a unit that would often see two members of staff working with up to 26 dementia patients.

"It's only because you'd watch other staff, you'd pick it up that way," she said.

"You don't have any moving and handling experience, there's certain ways you can pick them up, lift them and help them and stuff, support them.

"So if I'd have gone in and just basically rolled a lady over who had fragile skin, I could have tore her skin."

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The former member of staff also alleged there were strict rules around how often incontinence pads were used at the home, with residents limited to two pads a day, even if they soiled themselves.

"If we asked for another pad for them, we'd get into trouble. Because if you're taking some more now, there will not be anything left. If they're only wet you leave them," she remembered.

In one extreme example, this former member of staff also alleged someone at the home died when an open wound became infected.

"They were telling seniors and nurses: make sure this happens and that happens, but they weren't relaying it to us," she said.

"But then we won't see this lady for four or five shifts. So, there's no continuity there and that sore, it just got bigger and bigger. And it got as though, you walked onto the unit and the first thing you could smell was this ladies' leg."

This former member of staff recently left Abbey Grange Care Home.

Jeanette's and Lisa's mother Rita moved from Abbey Grange to a new home in 2022, where she celebrated her 77th birthday last year.

Having first tried to remove her more than a year before, the pair say they feel she has lost 18 months of her life.

Sky News approached Country Court, the company who run and manage Abbey Grange, about the allegations in this story, but it declined to comment.

However, the CQC said: "We inspected Abbey Grange Nursing Home on 20 July last year (2022) in response to specific concerns raised to us; as a result the service remained rated good overall.

"We take all concerns about health and social care services extremely seriously and use people's lived experiences to focus our inspection activity and continually monitor the care services provide.

"Where we do find care that does not meet national standards, we have a range of enforcement powers at our disposal to ensure services provide people with the good safe care they deserve."

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues in this story contact shingi.mararike@AG百家乐在线官网.uk