Anger as confused pensioner found 'wandering streets' after leaving Doncaster care home

Doncaster resident David Smithson said he was walking around the Armthorpe area yesterday evening (Sunday, July 12) and felt ‘something wasn’t quite right’ when he spotted an elderly man in the distance.

When Mr Smithson approached the pensioner and asked if he was OK he replied that he had ‘come from the big white house’- which Mr Smithson later identified as the Old Rectory Nursing Home.

Escorting the man back to the care home, from which he had been missing ‘for over 40 minutes’, Mr Smithson claims staff ‘did not even realise’ the pensioner had been gone.

Care home bosses are now under pressure after Mr Smithson posted details of the incident on Facebook, which were met with angry and concerned comments.

A spokesperson for The Old Rectory said that the care home was currently investigating and was therefore unable to comment further on the matter.

“We will be happy to comment as soon as the investigation is completed,” they added.

Mr Smithson said he had been in touch with the man’s family and ‘followed up with the relevant authorities’.

"I’m just happy I was there at the time,” he said. “It could have ended a lot worse.”

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