‘I’m just a bloke who loved his mum but it’s not only about her now, it’s about everyone in a care home’

GRIEVING: Tony Stowell with his late mother, Antonia

A Hull man pushing for the right to have CCTV cameras installed in care homes is urging the city to get behind his campaign.

Tony Stowell is campaigning for families to be able to have cameras installed so they can personally monitor the health and wellbeing of relatives in care homes.

It follows the death of his own mother, Antonia, in a city care home at the age of 87. She had been suffering from dementia and died as a result of Covid-19.

Mr Stowell said he was unaware of how rapidly her health had deteriorated.

His campaign for Antonia’s Law has the support of Hull West and Hessle MP Emma Hardy, who is taking a petition to Parliament later this year, and Mr Stowell has met with Health Secretary Matt Hancock to discuss his proposal.

He is hoping the Government will create the new law to give families the right to have cameras installed in the rooms of their loved ones in care homes, at their own expense.

Mr Stowell, 52, said: “I have a lot of support, but I need more.

“Everyone I speak to about this agrees with me, so I must be doing something right. I just want families to be allowed, if they want to, to place a camera in a room. Let’s be honest, we can’t walk the streets without being filmed and this would provide peace of mind, with the families paying for it.

CAMPAIGN: Health Secretary Matt Hancock met with Tony Stowell

“I’m not trying to expose anyone or point the finger of blame here – I just want to help.

“It would also shine a light on the work of some amazing carers, because it’s a hell of a job to do.”

Father-of-two Mr Stowell said the death of his mother, and not knowing how little time she had left, “destroyed” him.

Following her death in May, he suffered a stroke two months later. He has also been diagnosed with a hole in the heart.

“I lost so much weight and was a shadow of myself,” said Mr Stowell. “My consultant said everything was brought on because I was so stricken with grief.

“I’m just a bloke off the street who adored his mum, and I still do. But it’s not just about her now, it’s about everyone in a care home, now and in the future.”

Mr Stowell, who is being supported by Gulbenkian Andonian Solicitors, is asking people and businesses in Hull and the surrounding area to throw their support behind his campaign in the hope public pressure will help force through a change in the law.

“I’ve got this far but I really need local people and businesses to get behind what I’m trying to achieve now,” he said.

“There must be companies that can see what I’m trying to achieve that would back the campaign, so we can push it through to become law.

“I’ll only be able to rest easy when Antonia’s Law is actually passed as law.”

To find out more about Antonia’s Law, visit the campaign’s Facebook page.