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A man is calling for national changes to dementia care after his mother died following a night-time attack by another resident in a care home.Author: Charlotte BarberPublished 5 hours agoRichard Uridge has launched the Shut That Door campaign to raise awareness of the right for people living with dementia to have their bedroom doors closed at night.His mother, Sheila Hartman, 88, died on October 2, 2022, after being attacked while she slept in her room at a care home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.Mr Uridge, from near Ludlow in Shropshire, said: “My mother was asleep in her care home bedroom… the woman in the room two doors down had woken up in the night… and wandered into my mum’s room.”“In her confusion, she thought that my mum was an intruder in her own home.”“So she set about my mum with her walking stick and beat her many, many times… my mum was very seriously injured and died in hospital six or seven hours later.”He said the incident led to a police investigation and inquest, where the care home operator admitted failings in the care of both women.The other resident, who also had dementia, “had no idea what they were doing”, he added.Now, nearly four years on, an adult safeguarding review has concluded the case was not isolated and highlights wider national concerns about dementia care.Mr Uridge said: “The report shows that this wasn’t an isolated incident, but that resident-on-resident violence is a much more prevalent issue than perhaps we’d like to think.”The review found that Mrs Hartman’s death “occurred within a system that did not adequately protect people living with dementia” and identified a number of national issues, including the lack of clear standards.“One of the things that leapt off the page… was the fact that there are no national standards for dementia care in England and that there is no dementia strategy,” Mr Uridge said.“That means pretty much any old people’s home can say that it’s a specialist dementia care home – and that really isn’t the case.”He also highlighted the routine practice of leaving bedroom doors open at night in care homes.“The other thing that leapt off the page… is that care home bedroom doors are routinely left open at night,” he said.“I think it’s to make it easier for staff to check on residents… but it’s not possible to do a proper safe and well check from a distance.”Mr Uridge believes simply closing doors could help prevent similar tragedies.“For me, the number one recommendation is simple – shut that door,” he said.The safeguarding review also found that decisions about bedroom doors are often treated as routine, rather than being discussed with residents and families as part of individual care and safety planning.It warned that while open doors may help staff monitor residents, they can remove choice and increase risks—particularly as people with dementia who wander cannot legally be locked in their rooms.Mr Uridge said his campaign aims to ensure families, care providers and professionals understand that residents have the right to sleep behind a closed door if they wish.Alongside the campaign, he is also keen to remind people that those living with dementia are more than their condition.“It’s very easy to think of older people with dementia as… ‘patients’,” he said.“But what we should always do… is remember we did have a backstory. We were young once.”He hopes the campaign will spark wider national change and improve both safety and dignity in care homes.The findings of the review are expected to contribute to ongoing discussions about dementia care standards across England.Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.

Experts now believe the kiln at Sutton points to significant pottery production in the decades after the Black DeathA pottery kiln found beneath a primary school could be more historically significant than first thought, experts say.The find, beneath Sutton Primary School, near Potton, Bedfordshire, was initially believed to be from the Tudor era but is now thought to pre-date Henry VIII’s reign by more than 100 years.Archaeologists said the kiln would once have supplied pottery to Sutton and nearby settlements.Central Bedfordshire Council said the revised dating made the find even more significant, describing it as a “tangible link to the area’s medieval past”.The kiln was uncovered in late 2024 during ground investigations ahead of the construction of a new multi-use sports pitch at the school, with exploratory work carried out by the council’s archaeology service, Albion Archaeology.Originally thought to be Tudor in origin, further analysis of the pottery and kiln structure suggest it dates from the late 14th to the early 15th Century, in the late medieval period.Although no complete pots were found, the haul of fragments weighing over a tonne offer a glimpse into the scale of productionDuring the excavation, more than 30,000 fragments of pottery and tiles were recovered.Specialists believe only broken or discarded items remained when the kiln was abandoned, which explains why no intact vessels were found on site.Councillor Tracey Wye said the updated findings gave Sutton an extraordinary connection to its history.”What began as routine planning work, to provide Sutton Primary School with new sporting facilities, turned into a find of real national interest.”The discovery has also helped reshape understanding of Bedfordshire’s historic pottery industry.Experts now have enough data to reconstruct the kilnAlbion Archaeology project manager David Ingham said: “We already knew that medieval pottery was made at Everton, but finding a large kiln producing similar pottery three miles away at Sutton suggests that this area of Central Bedfordshire played a much more significant part in the region’s medieval pottery industry than we previously realised.”He said the kiln was probably used in the decades following the Black Death.Local people are invited to an event at Sutton Village Hall on 12 May, where they can hear about the latest research, view pottery from the site and take home a small fragment as a memento.Some of the finds will also feature in a six-month exhibition at The Higgins Bedford from 27 April, exploring medieval and Roman kiln sites across the county.Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? Contact us below.Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.More on this storyRelated internet links

A train operating in Bedfordshire has been given a name that reflects the area’s industrial past, following a collaboration between London Northwestern Railway and a local college.The Class 150 unit, numbered 150137, now carries the name ‘Brickfield Breeze’ and runs along the Marston Vale Line between Bletchley and Bedford. The name was chosen after a competition held with students at Kimberley College, who were invited to submit ideas inspired by the region’s heritage.Bedford’s history is closely tied to brickmaking, once home to what was described as the world’s largest kiln. During its peak in the 1930s, the site produced around 500 million bricks annually, underlining its importance within the industry before operations ceased in 2008.The naming of ‘Brickfield Breeze’ marks the second time a train on the Marston Vale Line has received a title. In May 2025, another unit was named “Bletchley Codebreakers” following a separate community competition.A formal naming ceremony took place at Bletchley railway station, attended by representatives from Kimberley College and London Northwestern Railway.Cara Higgs, community strategy manager at LNR, said:“We were delighted to connect with Kimberley College, so we could offer them the chance to come up with a name which celebrates the rich heritage of Bedford. We hope that passengers travelling with us will see the name given to our train and reflect fondly on the history behind it.”Nicola Genders, assistant headteacher at Kimberley College, said:“Being able to contribute to the naming of this train is a fantastic opportunity for our students and has sparked some really insightful conversations about the heritage of Bedfordshire and the Marston Vale Line. It was fantastic to see them get creative with their name ideas, and we were so pleased to see the newly named train arrive at the platform.”Image: London Northwestern Railway