A RETIRED bishop suffering from dementia was slapped and forced
to have cold showers by his carer, Preston Magistrates Court has
heard.
The carer, Kate Rogowski, was sentenced to eight weeks on 19
January, after being found guilty of assaulting the Rt Revd John
Satterthwaite, a former Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe. She was
caring for him when he was a resident of The Lodge care home, in
the Buckshaw Retirement Village complex.
Bishop Satterthwaite died in Chorley Hospital in May last year,
aged 88, a month after the incident came to light. It is understood
that a member of staff raised the alarm, the Lancashire Evening
Post reported this week. His death was not related to the
assault.
Magistrates said that Ms Rogowski had "acted in direct
contravention of his care-plan, causing him unnecessary humiliation
and degradation by cold-showering him and slapping his bottom," and
that she had shown no remorse.
Bishop Satterthwaite became the first Bishop of Gibraltar in
Europe in 1980, and held the post for 23 years. He had previously
been general secretary of the Church of England's Council on
Foreign Relations.
The Church Times obituary referred to him taking
"endless trouble to maintain relations with foreign clergy" (Gazette, 7
June 2014).
A joint statement from the dioceses of Blackburn and Carlisle
said: "We are really shocked to discover this sad end to the very
distinguished life of Bishop John.
"Bishop John was much loved by the very many people who knew
him. All people deserve respect, but especially the most vulnerable
in our society.
"We pray for all those who work for older people."
A spokesman for HICA, which manages The Lodge, said that it was
"gravely saddened", and that it had a "zero-tolerance approach" to
any form of abuse. "Our only objective is to provide safe, caring,
responsive, effective, and well-led care services, and we are proud
to be working with both safeguarding departments and the police
across all areas of our operation to ensure that poor practice such
as this is stamped out in the care sector."