Yet Another Care Home Scandal !

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27128011

Yet again, we have to rely on the BBC to put one of its reporters into a care home, undercover, to find out what is really going on. The BBC doesn't have the resources to cover all the care homes, but the Care Quality Commission does. In fact, cases like this are the very reason that the CQC exists in the first place !

A quote from the BBC link ::

Minister for Care and Support Norman Lamb said poor standards of care were intolerable. "There's a stubborn minority of care providers who do not meet acceptable standards and those are the ones that we have to tackle "

How does he know its only a minority ? How many other places are being operated like this one ? If I had an elderly relative in a care home I would be very worried indeed this morning.

[mikey4444]

grumpy01...I am not sure was meant by your rather gnomic reply at 08:45 this morning. Are you suggesting I do CQC's job for them ? If they would be prepared to pay me, I might consider it !

[pixie373]

Ummm, they do have to be trained. At the moment 50% of staff have to be qualified, due to rise to 100% over the next few years, so most places are training everyone to do NVQs. After the interview/ references, you start with an induction and can't work alone until you've passed that. There are several courses you legally have to do yearly and there are countless other- it is non-stop training and obviously, advanced CRB (or whatever it's called now).
The pay starts at £7/£8 an hour (not sure what the minimum wage is). I'm sure if someone is determined to be abusive, the opportunity is there.
As ratter says, it's more the institutional abuse, which is something care homes are very hot on avoiding.
In my experience (21 years and hundreds of residents), it is not usually the carers that are abusive- it's relatives that are either ignorant, controlling, or both.

[RATTER15]

Pixie, you say the pay starts at £7.00? I wish!! I don't know any care home that pays that much, Our senior staff with years of experience and qualifications only get £6.57 per hour. The pay really is appalling.

[pixie373]

Ours start at £7.50 round here, £9.50 for seniors and £10.50 for CTLs. Different areas, i suppose.

[DaisyNonna]

Define tea. Define tea time.

[pixie373]

In a home? Our Kitchen did sandwiches /cakes/salad etc before they left, which were available from 5pm onwards- whenever they were wanted. Or, heated up cooked meal, as ratter says.

[askyourgran]

It is certainly worrying, the clip I saw of the bed bound lady calling for help to go to the toilet was upsetting. I would hate to have a relative in such a state.

[EDDIE51]

In the home I worked in we served lunch at 12 o'clock midday. Tea and biscuits was at 10am and 4pm but nothing between 4pm and 10am the next morning. But then each resident had a small kitchen in their flat and could do their own food as well. Problem was a lot of residents didn't get up until 11am or so and it was a rush to get them into the dining room in time. Kitchen staff finished at 3pm after clearing the tables , washing up and cleaning the kitchen.
We could not reheat a meal if it had been over 3 hours since it was cooked, health and safety rule. So the latest any one could get a hot meal was 3pm. (cooked at midday so the 3 hours was up at 3pm)

[pixie373]

That's Extra-care, Eddie, that have their own kitchens etc. It's not the same as residential. Also, you can now reheat meals- but all hot meals have to be probed.

[viv38]

I watched this last night and wished I hadn't. How vile leaving a 98 year old lady begging for the toilet and that must happen regularly with her and that poor frail old lady lying in her bed saying in her gentle voice that some of the nurses hate her !! Dear God, if anyone treated an elderly relative of mine like that, I would hunt them down. I just wanted to go in there and give those lovely ladies a big hug. They were young and strong once and lived a life and now look at them. It's heartbreaking.

[naomi24]

I can't watch things like that. The bit on the news last night was enough for me. When old, frail and vulnerable people call for help for so long, I can’t believe that everyone working at that place didn’t know what was happening. They're all culpable!

[RATTER15]

I didn't watch the programme myself as I was working. Thankfully these places are in the minority. I have witnessed abuse quite a few times but nothing like the things that was in that programme. Sometimes people do have to wait to use the toilet, we have routines when people are taken to the toilet, but if five people all want to go at the same time it is impossible. Things don't always go the way we want things to go in the homes I worked in, usually due to staff shortages but when I see deliberate abuse, I'm all over them like a rash. I would be the first to submit a report to POVA and call in the inspectors.

[pixie373]

Exactly ratter- i did look it up- but thought the thread had finished. 400 out of 17,000 care homes have a warning to improve from CQC, so about 2%. I can't remember now, whether that include admin inefficiency (rather than abuse). Too many, definitely - but a minority.

[RATTER15]

Pixie, I dare say those figures would almost certainly include "admin inefficiency" generally people dont understand the admin that goes on in these places and that incorrect administration can also be a type of abuse. We were picked up by CQC once because of a hand written note pinned to a notice board in our staff room. it said "please try to encourage xxxxxxx to stay up a little longer so that she may sleep better at night" CQC made an issue of it because the staff room was not kept locked and it was in breach of her right to privacy and dignity. So they can get a little carried away at times.

[pixie373]

Yes. There are many forms of abuse- none acceptable, but i think many people assume physical or emotional abuse is prevalent.