Shut That Door

Would you sleep in a hotel bedroom with the door wide open?

Of course not! Because you’d worry about your safety, security and dignity.

Yet that’s exactly how countless thousands of mainly older people living with dementia will be spending tonight and every night in care homes up and down the country.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Residents have every right to sleep with their bedroom doors closed. ShutThatDoor.com is here to make sure they, their families and the professionals looking after them know it. We speak from bitter experience of what can happen with the open door policy so prevalent in the dementia care sector.

Sheila’s story

Early on October 2nd 2022 88-year-old Sheila Hartman was attacked with a walking stick as she slept in her care home bedroom. Beaten multiple times around the head and body she died from her injuries in hospital later that same day. In a desperate 999 call, care home staff described the bedroom as “like a murder scene.” But it wasn’t murder. Sheila’s attacker, a 90-year-old fellow resident, had simply walked through an open door from the corridor she often wandered at night and in her confusion thought she was fending off an intruder in her own home. Dementia does that. Messes with your mind.

A jury inquest into Sheila’s death heard how the care home, Ridgeway Lodge in Dunstable, should have done more to protect both women. The inquest concluded in October 2024.
Now an independent Safeguarding Adults Review*, which could be completed only once the inquest was over, is recommending that residents’ bedroom doors are routinely closed at night rather than left open as they are in many care homes to facilitate nighttime checks.

“My mother was a hugely practical woman so she’d love this practical solution. What could be simpler than closing a door? It’s affordable and it’s achievable. But only if it’s knowable. And too many people – including professionals – are totally unaware that people living with dementia have every right to sleep behind a closed door if they so wish, even if they can’t articulate that wish themselves. I know our family was. Otherwise we’d have said door closed please.” – Richard Uridge, Sheila’s son

Who we are

A mother and son team where one of the team walked off the pitch before the final whistle. Or perhaps a duet with a silent partner. Backing vocals provided by a loving family including my sister, Joanne.

Richard’s story

I was with my mum when she died. I was able to hold her hand and tell her how well she was loved. Thankfully my son, Jack, was with me and was able to hold my hand. A circle of hands mirroring the circle of life. Seeing her bloodied body isn’t something we’ll easily forget. Nor is it easy to overcome the guilt that adult children can feel when they’re unable to protect their elderly parents in return for being looked after when they were growing up. Perhaps some of the energy behind this campaign springs from that…

What we are

ShutThatDoor.com has two clear aims:

1. To make people aware of their rights around care home bedroom doors. We can do this only by having an open and honest conversation about the pros and cons.
2. To promote affordable technology of the sort that makes hotel bedrooms free to open and close for the occupant, accessible to staff, but locked to other guests.

What we’re not

Much is wrong with social care in general and dementia care in particular. The inquest into Sheila’s death and the subsequent Safeguarding Adults Review into the case highlighted many of the deep rooted issues. Plenty of other organisations including, of course, Age UK and the Alzheimer’s Society, are campaigning in this space. It would be counterproductive to duplicate the magnificent work they do.

Conversations not donations

We’re not a charity and have no intention of becoming one. We’re entirely self funded and have enough money and energy to keep going for a year. The plan is to make enough noise in that time so everyone is aware of their basic rights. Then we’ll shut up. Or, like a bedroom door, close!

Why now?

More than 980,000 people in the UK are living with dementia. By 2040 that figure is predicted to have risen to 1.4 million with many requiring admission to care homes. And while cases of extreme resident-on-resident violence are rare, the sheer numbers affected mean there will be more Sheilas without action. How many more is difficult to say because there’s been little research in this area. But the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) says it’s a significant and underreported issue that’s potentially more serious at night when, typically, staffing levels are lower.

Dissenting voices

Dare we say this isn’t an open and shut case?! We don’t pretend to have all the answers. There may well be professionals with way more than our limited experience who foresee all sorts of unintended consequences of a bedroom-doors-closed-at-night policy. If that’s you we’d love to hear your take. We welcome counter arguments. So please add your thoughts in the comments box here or on any of our posts.

People power

Nothing changes without action. And the more people who take action the swifter the change. Action comes in all shapes and sizes. Asking about the bedroom door policy when choosing a care home for you or a loved one is a good idea. So is discussing the issue with family members before it’s too late. But even the simple act of sharing this blog with someone who might find it useful is enormously helpful.

Larry Grayson

Television viewers of certain vintage may suspect we’ve co-opted Larry Grayson’s catchphrase verbatim for this campaign. Truth is we have. With no apology. One because it’s memorable. And two because we like to think he’d support us if he were still around.

Thank you.

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*Due to be published this Spring.