Panaroma

sony

Registered User
Jan 28, 2006
37
0
Armagh, Northern Ireland
Hi,

I'm not sure if this is on the right board....feel free to move it if necessary. I'm also not sure if this programme will be suitable viewing for many....... On BBC1 tonight at 8.30pm, Panorama - Please Look After Mum is described as 'Documentary reporting on abuse in care homes for the elderly.' It is definately on BBC Northern Ireland, not sure about the rest of the UK? Hope this is helpful.

Here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/6332327.stm

Sony
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Hiya,
Only posting this, so that if anyone else feels the same they know that they are not on their own - but just cannot face watching this programme.
Helen
 

Grannie G

Volunteer Moderator
Apr 3, 2006
81,443
0
Kent
I couldn`t watch it either. In the first place my husband was with me and in the second place I had a good idea what we`d be seeing and was unable to face it.
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
I did watch the programme and thought they raised some good points. They talked several times about the fact that children could not be treated in this way without the perpetrators being in a lot of trouble. The programme also did not show the CSCI in a good light. It mentioned at the end that an attempt to have private home residents covered by the Human Rights Act had recently failed.
 

Kayla

Registered User
May 14, 2006
621
0
Kent
I've just seen the Panorama programme and I feel really sorry for all the excellent homes who provide good care for their residents. Only three homes were shown in just one area of the country and the three or four elderly people on the film had certainly suffered greatly. However, the impression given was that all homes were like this, which is untrue.
My Mum has been in two care homes and a nursing home which have all been of a high standard. Other people I know have told me of good homes which their relatives are happy in. I don't think the programme gave a very balanced view at all. There may be room for improvement in Halifax, but that doesn't seem to have much relevence to the rest of the country.
I wonder how many elderly people will be put at risk because their relatives are worried by this programme? There do need to be safeguards to protect vulnerable adults, but homes are inspected regularly. Perhaps Panorama should produce another programme showing some of the many very good homes around.
Kayla
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
Kayla said:
I've just seen the Panorama programme and I feel really sorry for all the excellent homes who provide good care for their residents. Only three homes were shown in just one area of the country and the three or four elderly people on the film had certainly suffered greatly. However, the impression given was that all homes were like this, which is untrue.
My Mum has been in two care homes and a nursing home which have all been of a high standard. Other people I know have told me of good homes which their relatives are happy in. I don't think the programme gave a very balanced view at all. There may be room for improvement in Halifax, but that doesn't seem to have much relevence to the rest of the country.
I wonder how many elderly people will be put at risk because their relatives are worried by this programme? There do need to be safeguards to protect vulnerable adults, but homes are inspected regularly. Perhaps Panorama should produce another programme showing some of the many very good homes around.
Kayla

I can't really see that elderly people will be put at risk because of this programme, unless it worried people so much that they refused to allow their relatives to go into homes at all. I didn't feel that it gave the impression that all homes were bad - it mentioned residents being moved to other homes which were much better. I take your point that some homes do provide very good care, but people don't make documentaries about such things. I think if it makes people more vigilant and ask more questions about the homes their relatives are in then it can only be a good thing.

Obviously I am somewhat biased because of the fact that we did have problems with my mum's treatment in the first home she was in!
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
I saw it and it left me wishing I had not it was to sad for words , all I can think of its barbaric that in the year 2007 it can take up to 2 years to close a bad home and that the elderly are not covered by the human act right , I new this anyway but am glad now its been highlighted on TV

yes they didi keep saying
They talked several times about the fact that children could not be treated in this way without the perpetrators being in a lot of trouble.
also that you don't treat a dogs like that, they talk to children about old people and the children attitude was that they are going to die soon.

I am glad I saw it , glad that the BBC showed it even thought it made me sick and very sad , also just showed me how lucky I am not to live in Halifax area
 

Nels

Registered User
Jul 25, 2006
61
0
Romford Essex
I sat there last night thinking, this is not what was advertised...... have just realised that I was watching the wrong station, so thanks for the link, watched a programme about infections in babies and sat through it thinking they had changed the programme subject and it would be shown at a later date. I think it is all catching up with me.
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
Now that happen to me with
I sat there last night thinking, this is not what was advertised...... have just realised that I was watching the wrong station,

But with Three Minute wonder Wendnesday 4th Channel 4 or was I ?

I could not find A former missionary who suffers from dementia at 7:55 on 4 .


Could be that we have free view , and my daughter had taken aerial out and put it on normal TV ,
Because signal on free view keep saying no signal
I tried putting free view back it , but remote control would not work and normal TV was not been tuned in to right channels where free view is , I was right confused , was it on or not ?
 

DeborahBlythe

Registered User
Dec 1, 2006
9,222
0
I was puzzled by the way the producers suddenly slapped in a statement about the Human Rights Act at the end of the programme, without , I think, any previous reference to it. It seemed kinda out of place, as if they had edited out a link which might have made it seem sensible. (I know the point they were trying to make, and why; I have been following the discussion about the HRA on Talking Point and come to my own conclusions about it. I think the TP discussion was a whole lot more illuminating.)

Also, there was no reason to expect the Local Authority to broadcast the fact that it was disciplining/prosecuting staff for abuse in a home. Wrong target, IMHO. If someone was being prosecuted, it would come into the public domain anyway, and if it was a disciplinary matter, then the process would be undermined, possibly in the wrong-doer's favour, by having publicity before a conclusion to the process. (They could claim that unfair publicity jeopardised their right to a fair hearing.)

I think CSCI was a fair target and they were right to put them under scrutiny, however, the programme-makers didn't suggest a reason why CSCI might be less robust with care homes than they should be. The fact that they let the home in Halifax re-open so soon after the scandal there was probably a reflection on the fact that shutting down care homes puts a huge burden on Local Authorities or whoever, to find additional care home places, and as I understand it, there is a shortage of care home places, in England. If you close a place down at a stroke, someone somewhere has to re-house the residents. That's why CSCI tend to pussy foot about, I think. And that would make a good subject for a further programme.

Also, there was no reference to additional safeguards which came onstream in, I think 2006, such as the Protection of Vulnerable Adults checks (POVA) on new care home staff. And finally, they could have mentioned that some legislation is coming into place soon to enable people without mental capacity to access advocates, and also to make wilful neglect of a vulnerable person a criminal offence.
(I take this quote below from the Age Concern website as I can't find an up to date reference on the AS site. Happy to be directed to one and apologise if I have missed it.)

http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/428C0D2B0A7F45578767FACA5D7C293C.asp

"Mental Capacity Act 2005: delay in implementation

The major part of the Mental Capacity Act will not be introduced until October 2007. However, the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) service will be effective in England from 1 April 2007, together with some directly related parts of the Act. The code of practice and the criminal offence of ill treatment and wilful neglect will also be introduced in England and Wales from April 2007"


I'd give the programme makers a C+, 'could do better'.
 
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Kayla

Registered User
May 14, 2006
621
0
Kent
I think the programme would have been better if it had just dealt with one or two issues effectively, rather than making generalizations from a few examples.
At one point, they showed secret film of care workers trying to deal with a very confused and angry man in a way that was clearly making things much worse. These people could have probably handled the situation in a much better way if they had been trained properly.
I've noticed that the staff at my Mum's NH are always very calm and really seem to know what they are doing, presumably because they have received professional training. They also have rotas so that they spend time in both the general nursing section and the EMI Unit. This must help to reduce stress levels and help them to be more patient.
I'd like to see more positive reporting of dementia issues, and good practice should be shown on the television as well as the mistakes. It is bad enough having a relative with dementia, without the media painting a terribly gloomy picture and giving the public the impression that their relative will be beaten up or neglected in care. The fact that a member of staff was sacked and the NH had to improve its conditions shows that at least when things go wrong something is being done about it.
If relatives delay the admission to a NH of someone having hallucinations or falls, the result could be quite serious.
Only three months after my mother went into a care home, because she was unsteady on her feet and was very confused at night, she fell and broke her hip. If she had still been at home, she may have been on the floor for several hours before help arrived. Fortunately she called out and was taken to hospital straight away because she was being looked after 24/7.
Kayla