The Mathews Board of Supervisors heard a complaint about the county’s Department of Social Services from a local resident Tuesday night.

During the board’s monthly meeting, Tom Tiller of Mathews, an EMT with the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad, expressed concern about an incident in which the Mathews Department of Social Services allegedly didn’t investigate a case of suspected elder abuse in a timely fashion. He indicated that he was speaking as an individual and not as a representative of the rescue squad.

Tiller told the board that he had responded on a rescue squad call in which an elderly person "lay in bed in feces and urine for three days" before Social Services requested intervention.

"It took coercion to get Social Services to investigate," he said. "It was pure neglect on the part of Social Services …If we cannot improve interagency cooperation and support, something’s wrong."

In a letter to board members,...