NEW managers have been brought in to run a Gargrave nursing home where a 91-year-old woman was severely beaten by a fellow patient.

A new management team has taken over the running of Gargrave Park Nursing Home in West Street and stress they comply with all regulations regarding care of the elderly.

The team has been brought in after Beatrice Shutt was attacked with a chair, wielded by a fellow patient, who was suffering from a mental illness.

Following the assault last October, Mrs Shutt's cheekbone was found to be fractured, her finger broken and she required 24 stitches to head wounds.

Mrs Shutt, who lived in Carleton for many years, moved to Gargrave Park after suffering a stroke, which left her virtually immobile. Her family always felt there were plenty of staff to care for the residents.

However, residents suffering from mental health problems began moving into the home and Mrs Shutt told her niece, Julie Dowson, she had found one disabled lady in her bedroom. Mrs Dowson took the issue up with staff who said Mrs Shutt must have "imagined it".

Heartbreakingly, the elderly lady was telling the truth and one morning her neighbour beat her so severely she could have lost her life.

Mrs Dowson told the Herald: "They didn't even tell me about the attack but my husband is a paramedic and he was called to the scene.

"The manager, Leigh Marshall, just said it was an unfortunate incident and the matron Jean Boxer tried to blame him for allowing the mentally ill patients into the home. I think she put her job before her vocation as a nurse and her duty of care. She should've been the one to blow the whistle on the situation."

Mrs Shutt is now living in another home in Craven where she is said to be well but afflicted by glaucoma which prevents her from reading. Mrs Dowson says her aunt could have had an operation to correct the condition but following the assault has been terrified of needles.

"She loved to read," said Mrs Dowson, who runs health management company, Veritas, based at Broughton Hall. "But she had so many cuts to her head that they had to hold her down to stitch them. She couldn't bear needles coming towards her and at 92 now they can't give her a general anaesthetic. The quality of life she has got left has been damaged by the attack.

"Staff had always appeared to be caring and there always appeared to be a reasonable amount around.

"I think the point is that such difficult patients shouldn't mix with the elderly. All I can say to other families is believe your relations when they are telling you things. We never had any reason to doubt our aunt but we went along with the staff.

"With hindsight we should have investigated these things ourselves."

Matron of the home at the time of the attack, Jean Boxer, resigned from her post together with general manager Leigh Marshall following the incident.

Acting manager Julie Newton of Gargrave Park Nursing Home said: "All the events happened prior to my employment at Gargrave Park. We work within the guidelines. Myself and the new management team feel it would be unprofessional of us to comment."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said Mrs Shutt's alleged assailant had been interviewed but it was decided no further action could or should be taken in the case.

The home had earlier been investigated by police following an allegation of sexual assault. However the case was dropped after the suspect died.

An inquiry by the Government's National Care Standards Commission confirmed the home was exceeding the numbers of mentally ill residents it could legally care for and had failed to ensure the elderly were protected from abuse and neglect.

It said lapses had resulted in the "failure to protect vulnerable adults."