What I found at mums care home today.

[PollyP.]

That's great - well done to you and also the Alz Soc

It wasn't an easy thing for you to do, but you succeeded and perhaps now the care home will be more on the ball.

Let us know how things go.

Thinking of you and your dear Mum, alzheimers is enough to cope with, without any other avoidable problems.
Pauline
x

 

[SisterAct]

Well done....your Mum will be proud of you.....we are x

 

[Pottingshed50]

The manager was furious, almost in tears.

I bet she was - she could see her job going out of the window. The buck stops with her, never mind blaming others. She could see this on her record and would never get another Managers job in a care home again.

I am so pleased a bomb (figuratively speaking) has been put under her and may be from now on she wont be so laid back as to let others get on with it.

Well done - you deserve a big hug for what you have achieved. Many would have backed off , but now you can rest assured that for the time being things will improve. I still think a visit from CQC is still advisable.

 

[Chemmy]

I think you handled this brilliantly, Downnotout. There's lessons there for us all.

Taking the AS rep with you for support was such a good idea as it not only gave you emotional back up, it also provided an independent (and influential) witness to what was said at the meeting. The manager had no option but to hold her hands up and plead "guilty as charged". I'm sure you'll see positive changes at the home and that should be of benefit to all the residents, so well done from me too.

 

[ggma]

Thanks for letting us know the outcome of your meeting. So glad you got a response, and if the staff get some extra dementia training it will benefit not only your mum but all the people in the home.

It is good that the manager was distressed and accepted your complaint, managers do have to trust their senior staff and staff on duty, and an internal investigation is needed to find out what went wrong.

Hope this now means all the staff will be more aware, and things settle for you.

Well done for taking it forward, shows how worthwhile it is

 

[KAnne]

The meeting went well today. I am reassured somewhat.

The manager was furious, almost in tears. She had not been on site at the time and said had she been it would never had happened but also that she knew that wasn't the point as seniors and deputies over two shifts had missed it and something had gone badly wrong.

She acknowledged it was neglect. That if social services or an official had discovered it that they would have been locked down and put in special measures and that she was grateful to me for highlighting the problem to enable her to do something about it.

She is launching a full investigation, will interview every staff member who covered those shifts, from the senior in charge, to the care assistants, to the cleaners. New food and fluid care plans will be put in place and mum will be on an hourly drink/ check report.

FWIW the wonderful lady from Alz Soc had a look around and came to meet mum afterwards. She told me that she thought the CH was actually a really good place and that she was impressed with the managers attitude. She has offered to go in and do some specific dementia training for them. It was just marvellous to have an advocate who knew what she was talking about on mine and mums side.

I am also grateful to all of you for hand holding and letting me know that I am not alone. I know this is only one small victory in the war we are fighting with Alzheimer's and that I still need to be vigilant but I will sleep much better tonight.

The manager has a huge vested interest in being 'contrite' doesn't she, she wants to nip the complaint in the bud, as it were and I don't believe for one minute that the place would have been 'locked down' for this incident, maybe a one off

Interesting that the Alz Soc representative found the care home to be a 'good place'

You've done well fronting up to all this Downnotout because I do think you will have achieved some reinforcement of rules and extra training but I think human error will always occur

 

[Grannie G]

Well done Downnotout. You have handled this well .

 

[Downnotout]

The manager has a huge vested interest in being 'contrite' doesn't she, she wants to nip the complaint in the bud, as it were and I don't believe for one minute that the place would have been 'locked down' for this incident, maybe a one off

Interesting that the Alz Soc representative found the care home to be a 'good place'

You've done well fronting up to all this Downnotout because I do think you will have achieved some reinforcement of rules and extra training but I think human error will always occur

Don't think that I view this as "sorted" and that is the end of it.

There are some excellent carers there and mum is settled and content. But I'm well aware that the place is only as good as the weakest link in the chain. The good has so far outweighed the bad, but they have the opportunity to improve and while I'm satisfied that action will be taken I wouldn't give them another chance. Human error or not.

 

[Pottingshed50]

Downnotout - I totally agree with you. For Mum's and others sakes let us hope that it is as good from now on. I for one am glad to see you are still very much 'on your guard'.

 

[Saffie]

New food and fluid care plans will be put in place and mum will be on an hourly drink/ check report.

I'm surprised that this wasn't already happening as it surely is usual practice. What a shame that it took this really dreadful happening to your mother for it to be instigated.
However, good thing that, thanks to you, it will now be so. Well done. It is good that this very unfortunate affair has been sorted out so quickly.

 

[jude50]

Great work Downnotout and it's a reminder to the CH that you won't accept less that good care for your Mum and you are there fighting her corner and won't let things pass as just one of those days.

Jude

 

[TinaT]

I'm very proud of you as a fellow carer. I think you have done so much to help not only your mum but other residents in the care home. I wish that all family carers were as good as you have been in tackling this serious problem and that anyone who visits a care home should be 'carer champions' and not allow poor standards of care to slip by them.

I wonder if this should be reported now to the Care Quality Commission so that they can officially monitor that improvements are taking place and they also have the clout to enforce the changes if not. They have a good website where you can make complaints.

xxTinaT

 

[Bristolbelle]

I wish ...

every care home had someone like you to fight for the right, and I wish people would shout form the rooftops, badger MPs etc. I can't say I'm surprised the Alz lady thought it was "good", when you consider the yardstick everything is measured against nowadays, a shack with a leaky roof and no running water might be classed as good. The problem is if something so poor is "good" what does it say for CQC reports etc. I really am feeling a terrible sense of disillusionment and despair, perhaps my only option is to look for a job outside of care work.

 

[TinaT]

CQC can only take a professional 'snapshot' over the inspection period they are designated and I'm quite sure if the inspection team had seen anything such as this, the home would have been put into special measures.

Perhaps we need more CQC inspectors but the government seem to put care homes bottom of the list of where to put money into effective systems. If there is an official complaint, then they can and will, continue to monitor any care home reported. But there has to be a report, or how would they know things were not right? They cannot be there every day but relatives are constantly visiting and monitoring the quality of care for themselves. The CQC can only monitor what they see or what they are told through complaints.

Relatives can contact not only the CQC but the local authority who are usually the ones who are paying for some of the care at these homes and have a responsibility to make sure that the care they pay for is of a good standard. Whether they pay for all, some or none of the care they still have a duty of care within their own authority boundaries. Every town in England has a local LINKs/Healthwatch organisation and will pass on complaints. But again they have to have received a concern in order to act.

The more relatives make official complaints, the better monitored the system will be in the long run.

xxTinaT