panorama

[Pushka]

Another side to these problems is people used to choose to have a 'care' career where as now anyone on benefits/seeking work is being 'forced' to take any job or else the will face money suspension sanctions. I live in an area where most weeks the local newspapers job section has only care jobs. These people still have to pass what was a CRB and homes are bound by rules of having to get 2 references before they can employ someone (paperwork was one of the big things checked on a CQC inspection, homes lost their stars if not correct) BUT alot of people are taking these jobs for the wrong reason, just a job.
As for cameras could relatives not install their own in their relatives room? I dont know the answer... I know there are some guidelines laws in CH's that are more than silly, we were not allowed to put names on doors! SW told us it was about residents privacy, my guess is loved one's might know where their room is and choose to sit in there rather than wheeled out to a lounge where they can all be 'cared for' together.

 

[love.dad.but..]

Totally agree Noorza and also how many times do we hear the same thing - well the carers aren't paid much so what can you expect. I expect a lot even from someone on min wage if that is the job they have chosen to apply for. I work in childcare where wages are low but parents quite rightly expect and get a very good standard of care for their vulnerable children in the settings in my experience over many years, the elderly sector should receive the very best of attention at all times regardless, some homes are obviously recruiting the wrong sort of people that frankly I wouldn't have in my home to make me a cup of tea let alone be trusted to look after my vulnerable elderly dad.

 

[handyjack]

Maybe someone can tell me, why is it necessary to 'train' a person to care? At some stage in the Dementia journey spouses and relatives care for their LO at home.

Padraig, with the greatest respect to you (and the many others who look after loved ones at home) It's a fact that not everyone can cope with the demands of dementia 24/7.. I wish I'd got a pound for every relative who have thought they could cope with a sufferer at home, before finally accepting that it's become too much. I have seem wives, husbands, sons and daughters in tears,, racked by guilt, feeling they have let their loved one down, by placing them in a nursing/care home.
It's a very sad fact, that most elderly, abuse is committed by close relatives in the elderly persons own home. Not just physical abuse, but financial abuse, psychological abuse and physical neglect. We have had an elderly person in our home, who was placed there by Social Services under a safeguarding order, after issues with her own offspring.

As Kassie said in her reply to your post

Caring cannot be taught,it is about empathy,compassion and respect.

Personally, I believe it's empathy, compassion and respect that cannot be taught. These are the qualities all workers in the care industry should have to start with, before the teaching (and practice ) of caring can begin.

 

[trigger]

Shocking to see that type of abuse in the care home but people with dement are being abused verbally and treated badly every day but joe public , families and so called friends but 99% of the time is overlooked even after its been reported No one want to get involved ,
last night’s programme explains that some of these carers were reported several times over may years nothing will change

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS or closed eyes & ears as well

 

[clareglen]

How I wish I was able to show the many videos I made of our journey.

Why don't you get a YouTube account & upload to YouTube then you could post the links to the videos, by private message, if it's not allowed on this forum. Your book was very good, & you were an exceptional carer, but when I've other family to see to & running around after everyone & I'm a cancer patient too, I don't agree with your comment that 'dementia need not be hell on earth'. My mum has Parkinson's Disease Dementia and she's aggressive with me a lot of the time. I was determined to be patient with her today, & I have been, but she was shouting at me to put her door key from the stairs into her glasses case but she had already done it & was shouting to put the step into her glasses case then she took my keys off me to put into her glasses case & wouldn't let me touch it but I couldn't get it through to her so in the end I had to take her key out put it on the stairs & then put it back into glasses case to appease her. This is just one small incident on one day. I find this behaviour wearing on a day to day basis, yr after yr.

 

[Witzend]

AD life does not have to be hell on earth.

No, it doesn't - IF the sufferer is reasonably content and compliant, and IF the carer has plenty of time to devote to them. IF the carer does not also have many other responsibilities/other family to care for and is not utterly worn out with it all. IF the carer is able to get enough sleep, and is not exhausted with being up and down half the night, every night.

There are so many ifs.

We would all choose a non-hellish dementia if we could - alas nobody offers us that choice.

 

[garnuft]

Padraig, with the greatest respect to you (and the many others who look after loved ones at home) It's a fact that not everyone can cope with the demands of dementia 24/7.. I wish I'd got a pound for every relative who have thought they could cope with a sufferer at home, before finally accepting that it's become too much. I have seem wives, husbands, sons and daughters in tears,, racked by guilt, feeling they have let their loved one down, by placing them in a nursing/care home.
It's a very sad fact, that most elderly, abuse is committed by close relatives in the elderly persons own home. Not just physical abuse, but financial abuse, psychological abuse and physical neglect. We have had an elderly person in our home, who was placed there by Social Services under a safeguarding order, after issues with her own offspring.

As Kassie said in her reply to your post
Personally, I believe it's empathy, compassion and respect that cannot be taught. These are the qualities all workers in the care industry should have to start with, before the teaching (and practice ) of caring can begin.

IMO a very wise post. Doctors don't have to care but they do have to know how to do their job and though this website may give the impression that there are more bad than good, we all know that not to be the truth.

In Panorama, we also saw the carer who offered the lady, who was brandished as aggressive... (that would have been my mother, she would NEVER have tolerated bad care willingly, good care...she was still 'challenging')...anyway...
we saw the carer with the flannel and kindness, unspoken volumes.

To my mind it lies within every care worker to route out the bad ones...cameras in rooms are simply NOT going to be on the agenda, it is too much of an intrusion, beyond the pale, no matter how much you may think it makes sense, it does not.

The sense lies in better levels of recruitment, making caring a professional qualification and paying at levels that reflect that.

That means more money.

As always, the basic problems of life come down to that.

In my town, those that can't get a job become a carer.

It requires more intelligence than that.

 

[Worried Nurse]

I worked in a nursing home specifically for respite care. Some self funded and weren't actually 'relieving' anyone of the caring role, viewing it as a holiday. Lots and lots of repeat custom. There were others funded by local authorities. The staff pay was significantly better than other nursing homes. Pay does not equal good care but they were able to choose from the best candidates and wouldn't have had any concerns about sacking uncaring staff. It was incredibly hard work but we loved working there and I never once witnessed or heard of ANY abuse. There were enough staff to make sure there was a balance between physical hands-on care and spending quality time with guests, unlike the impression given by the programme last night. And as for the unpaid workforce of relatives supporting loved ones at home - I salute you, you do an incredible job.
Banks argue they have to pay big salaries and bonuses to attract the best people, and yet the most important job of all is considered unworthy of a decent living wage by governments, society and care homes themselves. Caring for vulnerable, often elderly to whom we owe an enormous debt should be, above all, a privilege. But it's importance should not be undervalued, or those of us with huge mortgages / rents on tiny homes have no option but to seek alternative employment.
There are bullies everywhere. Abuse will always happen. Whistleblowers should be applauded. We must all remain vigilant without intruding on the privacy of those we are looking out for.
One suggestion - check whether the majority of residents are incontinent or whether there continence is largely maintained by regular toileting - not scientific in any way but I have found it a useful marker to determine the ethos of the care

 

[lexy]

deleted

 

[Padraig]

Thanks to those who commented on my post. I'm afraid that some of my comments may not go well with some people, but then I'm not your average guy. I'm a stray, a loner, have no friend and never made friends. There's so much I've had to learn about society and learn I did on my own. If you will, I'm an observer and as such I'm still learning.
Our perspective on life is coloured and influenced from childhood, by family and images portrayed by in those in authority. My early life was unconventional to say the least. There was no family or adult to provide nurture, just another 160 other male children form babies in cots to ten year olds. At age ten we were transferred to an adult detention Industrial 'School' were we provided free labour for the state. In that place there were in excess of 800 boys up to the age of sixteen, five dorms each contained 160 plus beds.
On my release I was a total social misfit and kept the secret of my past to myself due to the stigma and shame attached to having 'served time' (14 yrs up to the age of 16). In many ways the lack of an education, nurture, abuse and starvation suffered, gave me an appreciation of freedom, food and so many other aspects of life most take for granted.
The greatest change in my life was to discover the love of a girl from West Auckland.
She was the girl I cared for when she most needed me. My mind-set was, she comes first, and no matter how I felt, her life was more important than mine. Fortunately, though I was not feeling well at times; (irritable bowel syndrome) the doctor said, after my wife passed it was discovered that it was stomach cancer. It required the whole of my stomach removed. So I was very lucky.
Clareglen,
Thank you for reading my book, I posted it on here to save me posting a lot of the lessons I learned whilst caring for my wife. Had others taken the time to read it they would have known that I understood it was impossible for most people to care for a LO in there own home. I care passionately about people afflicted with Dementia and their treatment. It was my good fortune to have witnessed the effects of Alzheimer's as they unfolded. During those years four different Psychologist were assigned to monitor my wife. The last one was 64 years old and when my wife passed he turned up at my door to request I sign a copy of my first book. He then asked if he could record interviews about my methods of caring. Later I agreed to a number of his students visit my home to answer their questions.
Finally please forgive me if I've offended anyone, I'm only too aware that anyone caring for a parent is at a very great disadvantage in that their knowledge is limited to the period of their own life. They can not know or experience a time, place or background of their parent's life prior to their arrival. Soon enough they leave home.

 

[marchbank]

panorama - sickening

My take on panorama - I knew it was coming on and I said it's something you don't want to watch but feel the need to see it through. I found the scenes sickening, the families upset touched my soul. I sat with my husband rattling about the bad carers and in the same breath said but there are good carers. My take on the situation is that the big bosses should instead of worrying how things look on paper, they should get back to the basics and provide practical training. I've had the alzheimer skilled training and for me it confirmed how life can be - to the other students the training was words. Spend alot of time getting to know families loved ones, learn to sit and wait for an answer instead of rushing off, sit for as long as it takes to make sure some soul gets food in their belly. I can feel my rage lifting again that this doesn't happen always and more importantly that it is allowed not to happen. My saying to colleagues now is care for our people as if they are your own and always imagine the care commission is standing over your shoulder. If only that could happen daily everywhere things would change. I don't know if yous have heard the care commission are looking for people with first hand knowledge of dementia to accompany them on inspections. This allows people like us to see what could be missed to others, I am thinking about it. It could be a baby step to change.

 

[Saffie]

This thread should be aligned to the one about CQC. Both are relevant to each other.

 

[Countryboy]

I worked as a home help,my wages were poor,but i loved the job and got a lot out of it. There are always excuses for abuse,but there are none.

Kassy sorry yesterday I had problem trying to log into the Chat Room all sorted now , Re: Care Home Programme , what I can’t understand is that apparently some members of staff were reported several time over a period of Six years to the Managers & bureaucrats “yet not suspensions or investigation “ until the undercover cameras exposed them Now thats the worry the Care Home Manager and the bureaucrats let the Patients down by not investigating the complaints . Personally any Person in Authority that Knew anything about it should be brought to account Not just the care workers ,

Tony

 

[Lady Phoenix]

I watched this last night with the attitude that Im a tough ole nut and its probably edited for dramatic effect anyway. How wrong I was. I didnt get upset, I got really angry.

Here are some of the points that I would like to comment on

- The lady at the beginning who only wanted to go to the toilet. Now, we dont know what the other care workers were up to, but leaving her for over an hour is unacceptable in any circumstance. Given the legal staff to patient ratio, even if everyone was calling at once you should be able to answer all bells within an hour.
- Then when a care worker did come, it made my blood boil. To tell someone to do it in their pad is just wrong. I was always told that the idea is to try and save the pad for as long as possible as this promotes independence. People dont like to use pads, it destroys their self esteem and imo that is worse than hitting them.
- As for that ***** who slapped that patient. OMG. Do I really need to say how bad that was.
- Cameras. As a care worker Im really not comfortable with that idea, but I can understand why relations would want to do it. Its OK saying that cameras encourage the care staff to work better but the incentive should be to do the job well, not put in the fear of getting caught doing it wrong.
- Im really happy that they put in a reporter undercover who not only exposed the bad things, but also highlighted the pressures that the care staff went through. Im not saying that all the failings were due to pressures of the job, some, no most, were due to abuse and/or neglect. However, sometimes, especially at mealtimes there is just too much to do and the fault does not lie with the staff. However, I suspect most people will appreciate that anyway.
- The program makers did a good job with the stats. In this program they only highlighted a few homes, but they also told you how many registered homes exist. This, IMO, highlights that abuse in care homes is still a minority. Im not saying its right, or excusable, but we should not be thinking this goes on in every home.

On the whole I thought it was a very good program. It didnt seem to have a hidden agenda, all it wanted to do was expose the potential failing if care homes.

It hurts me to know that this happens, and when the life of your loved one is shortened by care home failings no amount of compensation or prison sentences will ever bring those lost years back.

And here I am with the same old problem of not being able to end a conversation, so thank you for reading

Id like to add that this post is personal opinion only and my views may not reflect those of any professional organisation wether known to me or not.

 

[Saffie]

There was a network of local LINK groups, made up of members of the public, who were able to go into care homes at times.
These became Healthwatch around 4 years ago.
http://www.healthwatch.co.uk/

 

[jan.s]

This may be of interest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27266963

 

[Saffie]

Thanks Jan.
What a disgrace it took a TV programme to have this effect.
You would have thought they would have been able to act sooner - or did the BBC not let the police know.

 

[jan.s]

Apparently the police wanted to view the programme before it was aired, but the Panorama team refused to allow it. I guess it would have taken away some of the shock if someone had already been arrested and charged!

 

[AlsoConfused]

it would help if there were government-set minimum staff:resident ratios, adequate numbers of duty managers to cover the whole 24 hours and recognition that many people aren't cut out to be good care-workers so you have to be very selective whom you take on and how you treat them.

My sister-in-law's a very good carer in a very good care home. Staff retention is good and they do a lot of training to national standards. Everything's certainly not rosy, though. There's not enough slack in the system - if one care worker is off sick a colleague often has to work extra shifts at short notice to cover. That can be exhausting for the care worker and terribly damaging to their quality of life and that of their families.

 

[handyjack]

Excellent idea AlsoConfused.. There should be minimum staffing levels in care/nursing homes and these should be published...... As an exercise, for everyone,,, look on the CQC website (the regulatory body for all care/nursing homes) and do a search for minimum staffing levels.. You will not find the answer there. Yet they inspect hundreds (if not thousands) of care/nursing homes every year and will make reports telling us that minimum staffing levels are satisfactory,, all without actually stating what is a good minimum ratio of residents to staff.