A horrific image of an elderly care home resident with massive bed sores has been used to reinforce calls for an independent watchdog for the nursing home sector.

Derrick Burgess, Progressive Labour Party Seniors and Workers spokesman, showed the image to media during a press conference yesterday, but had promised the resident’s family that it would not be made public.

Mr Burgess said there was an urgent need for an overhaul of the sector, and said the National Officers for Seniors and the Physically Challenged (NOSPC) had failed to act on a string of complaints.

“It’s time we had an inquiry in the state of nursing homes and the care of patients,” Mr Burgess said.

The PLP spokesman was speaking after he slammed the state of private nursing homes across the Island — and said substandard homes that failed to comply with the law should be shut down.

“I would say maybe a panel of three to five people appointed by the Governor, and people who want to contact them could talk in camera so they wouldn’t have any fear,” he said. “They would get more information that way.

“I would ask the Government to set it up as an independent body ... you can get some people that can do the job.”

Mr Burgess showed the media pictures of a care home patient with severe bed sores — but said he would honour a promise to relatives not to release it.

He added he had shown the photographs to new Health Minister Jeanne Atherden — as well as a death certificate for a care home resident that listed “severe malnutrition” as one of the causes of death.

Mr Burgess said that Government’s response to his original call last week for tighter control and more Government-operated nursing homes was “deeply troubling.”

And he questioned why, if the sector was properly policed, there were “so many private nursing homes on the Island which are in breach of regulations, making them little more than tombs for the living.”

The Ministry of Health and Seniors agreed that more residential care homes would be needed — but said the private sector should take the lead in providing them.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry added that homes were visited on a regular basis to ensure they operated in line with Government standards, while regular unannounced spot checks also took place.

The spokeswoman added that all complaints about care were investigated — with a dozen logged by the NOSPC this year. Mr Burgess meanwhile quoted one family with an elderly relative who had a black toenail, which they raised with staff.

“They [the care home] wouldn’t do anything about it. By the time they [the family] took him to the hospital, his leg was black and they had to amputate,” Mr Burgess said.

And he quoted other people who had relatives who had not been washed, or fed, and suffered from large bed sores, while others had been tied to beds or chairs.

Mr Burgess added that some residents in care homes suffered “constant verbal abuse” and physical violence.

“One staff member was caught choking a patient. Another staff member slapped a patient,” he said. “This is not a PLP or an OBA (One Bermuda Alliance) problem — we all have to get together to fix this. Everywhere I go when I see seniors and particularly people whose loved ones are in these homes, they are supportive.”

New Health Minister Jeanne Atherden - who was appointed less than two weeks ago - said it was too early for her to say whether or not there is a need for an “independent complaints committee”.

She added that she had been in contact with Mr Burgess, and she appreciated his willingness to share the information that had been brought to him.

She added she would encourage anyone who has concerns with the operations, conditions or the care provided at any residential care home or nursing home to contact the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged.