Panorama: abuse in a care home

[1976_Child]

I've just watched tonight's Panorama film about abuse in a residential care home for adults with learning difficulties. I'm what could be mildly called 'cynical' about these sort of undercover reporting shows because often they are very selective in the footage they show.

 

In this case, as I am sure others who have seen it will confirm, I am genuinely utterly shocked. What you will witness if you watch the film is genuine grade-A abuse. Even deliberate, cruel torture.

 

The police must carry out a thorough investigation and throw the book at these so called 'carers' and I hope that, if convicted - which on that evidence they should be - they end up doing long stretches at HM's pleasure.

 

Unbelievable that this could happen. The company which owns these for-profit 'hospitals' should never be allowed to operate in this country again and the executive board should likewise be held responsible.

[trousers]

Watched the programme too. Probably the most shocking footage ever to come out of one of these undercover TV investigations.

 

The thing that enraged me the most was the complete and utter ineptitude and arrogance of the industry regulator: "it was a misjudgement on our part to not act on the whistleblowing information provided by a former employee (senior nurse) 6 months ago".

 

"Misjudgement"??? FFS... Why can't these people put their hands up when they are wrong and simply admit to abject incompetence? (rhetorical question, obviously)

 

Mis-judgement my arse.

 

The answer, of course, is to have CCTV facilities as all these "hospitals" but you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a law somewhere preventing it due to "protecting the patients' privacy"...if ever the law was an ass here we have exhibit A...

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

Shocking. How can people be so unkind.

[saint lard]

Watched the programme too. Probably the most shocking footage ever to come out of one of these undercover TV investigations.

 

The thing that enraged me the most was the complete and utter ineptitude and arrogance of the industry regulator: "it was a misjudgement on our part to not act on the whistleblowing information provided by a former employee (senior nurse) 6 months ago".

 

"Misjudgement"??? FFS... Why can't these people put their hands up when they are wrong and simply admit to abject incompetence? (rhetorical question, obviously)

 

Mis-judgement my arse.

 

The answer, of course, is to have CCTV facilities as all these "hospitals" but you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a law somewhere preventing it due to "protecting the patients' privacy"...if ever the law was an ass here we have exhibit A...

 

We are not even allowed to take photos of our service users when they are doing activities without express permission from next of kin.

 

I won't even bother going into some of the legislation that dictates what can and can't be done.

And another factor is outside agencies making decisions on behalf of the service users,many baffle staff that work closely with vunerable adults/children.One of these agencies is DOL's,Deprivation of Liberties...they make phenominally bad decisions that are not in the longterm interest of the service users.

The programme last night was sickening.

The care quality commision have only just taken over the mantle of regulator and have undergone many changes since their reincarnation,they can be attrocious to deal with and appear to have priorities all wrong in many instances.

Anyone dealing with challenging behaviours should be given Proact SCIP training,this teaches to be proactive when dealing with incidents,highlights what causes the incident and puts in place risk assessments as to hopefully stop the incident reocurring.

It does teach physical teqchniques,but these are protective to both staff and service user alike. thus offering reasurance to both parties however stressfull and agressive the situation may become.

Edited 1 June, 2011 by saint lard

[trousers]

Mrs Trousers works in an NHS hospital so I have an insight into how the "patient privacy" laws actually have the opposite effect of protecting patients.

 

I said to my missus once: "if I ever land up in hospital non-compus-mentus, I want a camera trained on my bed 24x7 so my family can see how I'm being treated". Of course, that wouldn't be possible because it would infringe on my privacy and the footage could "fall into the wrong hands".

 

Patient choice goes out of the window when institutions hide behind these "privacy" laws.

 

IMHO of course.

[dubai_phil]

Trousers

The thing that enraged me the most was the complete and utter ineptitude and arrogance of the industry regulator: "it was a misjudgement on our part to not act on the whistleblowing information provided by a former employee (senior nurse) 6 months ago

 

Let me guess. A Public Sector Manager by any chance? (Thinking in general terms in the "Baby P" mess genre of what appears to be "my job is to fill in forms about targets not to provide a duty of care" that is rather prevalent in the press at the moment)

[trousers]

Let me guess. A Public Sector Manager by any chance? (Thinking in general terms in the "Baby P" mess genre of what appears to be "my job is to fill in forms about targets not to provide a duty of care" that is rather prevalent in the press at the moment)

 

Indeed. Although there are massive failings on both sides of the 'private/public' divide in this industry.

 

Again, it's people using to protect their own arses. In Shoesmith's case, she wasn't found 'not guilty' last week in terms of how she was running her department, rather ed balls didn't follow employment law in sacking her.

 

We have laws that are supposed to protect employees and patients but the balance is all wrong.

 

The people in charge are so fearful if "human rights" laws that they end up not making any decisions at all.

[saintscottofthenortham]

I couldn't believe what I was watching. Quite how them c*nts sleep at night is beyond me.

[dune]

It happens in old peoples homes all the time. When my nan was in an old peoples home I walked into her room and witnessed a "carer" force feeding her yoghurt. I asked here what the **** she thought she was doing and instructed her to come with me to the managers office. A lot of excuse making then ensued but I made it crystal clear that I didn't want this woman to have any further contact with my nan and that I expected her to be closely monitored. All of this was said with her stood there. I should have taken the matter further.

 

I have considered becoming a carer myself because of this incident because it's a national disgrace how badly our elderly are treated in some of these homes. Trust me I wouldn't give a f/ck if i made enemies of these bad eggs. If I saw any abuse of old people i'd get it dealt with. Abusing defenceless old people is right up there with paedophilia in my book.

Edited 1 June, 2011 by dune

[Sheaf Saint]

I caught some of this program lastnight and I too was in a state of utter disbelief that people who call themselves Carers could be so deliberately cruel to such vulnerable people who rely on them for support. Clearly these people have a poor quality of life anyway but the emotional scars some of them will have developed as a result of this depravity will probably never heal.

 

I heard on the news this morning that 13 of the staff have been suspended and that police have arrested four of them as a result of this investigation. I hope they get what's coming to them. The fact that their faces have been shown on national TV means they will be publicly vilified, and deservedly so.

[Saint in Paradise]

 

I hope they get what's coming to them. The fact that their faces have been shown on national TV means they will be publicly vilified, and deservedly so.

 

 

That will also probably result in them claiming their defence has been compromised or something.

Then IF found guilty will mean only a very lenient sentence

 

Old age sucks and the older I get the more stuff like that becomes a worry

 

.

[Jimmy_D]

It was sickening to watch.

 

I see that four of them have been arrested now... throw the book at em.

[Jonnyboy]

I've just watched tonight's Panorama film about abuse in a residential care home for adults with learning difficulties. I'm what could be mildly called 'cynical' about these sort of undercover reporting shows because often they are very selective in the footage they show.

 

In this case, as I am sure others who have seen it will confirm, I am genuinely utterly shocked. What you will witness if you watch the film is genuine grade-A abuse. Even deliberate, cruel torture.

 

The police must carry out a thorough investigation and throw the book at these so called 'carers' and I hope that, if convicted - which on that evidence they should be - they end up doing long stretches at HM's pleasure.

 

Unbelievable that this could happen. The company which owns these for-profit 'hospitals' should never be allowed to operate in this country again and the executive board should likewise be held responsible.

 

there's your problem

[Wade Garrett]

A number of these private institutions sacked qualified nurses and replaced them with unqualified staff.

 

Still, it probably boosted their profits.

[1976_Child]

there's your problem

 

yes and no. The abuse cases from 1960s state sanatoriums abound. Just because they are state-run will not mean per se that abuse will not happen. However, if the company had both invested in decent recruitment and training, maybe paid their staff more and always had a senior responsible manager on site at all times then these abuses would have, in all likelyhood, not have begun in the first place. But all of that would have resulted in lower profits.

[simo]

I watched it and it had me in tears !

[hamster]

UK's biggest residential care provider in serious financial problems:

 

http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13611766

 

IMO opinion the only 'profit' from care should the moral and ethical. Recent initiatives like 'personalised budgets'' direct payments' and 'self directed support' sound very good in many ways like ability to choose but therein lies a problem, currently, as I understand, anyone opting out of the current system IS NOT PERMITTED to purchase local government services, therefore a percentage of their assessed entitlement must go to paying any private companies shareholders their dividends.

 

It's plain crazy, i know for a fact that some are scared, and rightly so, of leaving the bosom of state provided care. It's promoted as offering people 'choice' but is clearly farcical if you remove the best care provider from that list of choices. Apart from a wealthy minority our parents, grandparents, sons and daughters ad infinitum MUST have nothing less than our 100% assurances that we, the people of this country, will provide for them at whatever cost.

 

After all, the current 'money-go-round' system ensures that WE are the accountable ones, exactly as it shod be in a modern caring society. People are free to disagree with that of course but unless you fall into that 'wealthy' category, you leave the system at your peril. If it's an informed choice then good luck to you but the most vulnerable should never be sold off to the lowest bidder.

 

Grrrrr....

[View From The Top]

One of the most shocking programmes I have ever watched.

 

I was deeply upset and furious.

 

Anyone who works with adults with complex needs will tell you that more and more highly qualified (expensive) staff have been replaced with more and more (cheap) unqualified staff and that the level of compassion has dipped, quite seriously, in some situations.

 

Some of the stories I've heard from some adult learners regarding the standard of their "care" are shocking.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

One of the most shocking programmes I have ever watched.

 

I was deeply upset and furious.

 

Anyone who works with adults with complex needs will tell you that more and more highly qualified (expensive) staff have been replaced with more and more (cheap) unqualified staff and that the level of compassion has dipped, quite seriously, in some situations.

 

Some of the stories I've heard from some adult learners regarding the standard of their "care" are shocking.

 

Profit and care are uncomfortable bed fellows.

[View From The Top]

Profit and care are uncomfortable bed fellows.

 

They are indeed and is, I would suggest, the reason so many health care professionals and professional bodies are against the proposed NHS reforms.

[bridge too far]

They are indeed and is, I would suggest, the reason so many health care professionals and professional bodies are against the proposed NHS reforms.

 

The whole thing's a mess

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/planned-gp-consortia-could-lead-to-chaos-ndash-and-topdown-diktats-2291516.html

[Deppo]

I have considered becoming a carer myself.

 

That'll solve it.

[dubai_phil]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8551025/Warnings-of-care-home-were-ignored-for-months.html

[trousers]

Profit and care are uncomfortable bed fellows.

 

Only when coupled with ineffective and inept regulation (regulators which, entirely coincidently of course, happen to be public sector organisations. Indeed, the whole whistleblowing process in this case fell down when a private sector employee reported the malpractice to the public sector regulator. I knew this would turn into a private vs public debate sooner rather than later which is why I initially said the blame should be shared across both sectors in this case to try and figure such a debate. I failed)

[trousers]

They are indeed and is, I would suggest, the reason so many health care professionals and professional bodies are against the proposed NHS reforms.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_finance_initiative

[Gingeletiss]

Profit and care are uncomfortable bed fellows.

 

What a stupid statement! Only in a few cases, you see highlighted in the media. I've recently had my knee done at the Spire (private hospital), I couldn't of been treated better.

[hamster]

Only when coupled with ineffective and inept regulation (regulators which, entirely coincidently of course, happen to be public sector organisations. Indeed, the whole whistleblowing process in this case fell down when a private sector employee reported the malpractice to the public sector regulator. I knew this would turn into a private vs public debate sooner rather than later which is why I initially said the blame should be shared across both sectors in this case to try and figure such a debate. I failed)

 

Ah, but instances of abuse or neglect in the public sector are less (I'm assuming) than in the private sector. Also, the public sector is naturally better placed to act and act quickly; there is not the focus on financing remedial measures in my experience.

 

Anyway, this whistleblowing department is not the underlying problem, we are talking about the causes in this case and one of the causes is without doubt paying unsuited people low wages for a job that is undervalued. I'd say that an army of carers being paid a couple of quid less an hour than their ps equals saves a lot of money, the balance sheet is more important than the bedsheet.

 

Whather we like it or not these situations show the clear problem in privatised care homes.

[hamster]

Only when coupled with ineffective and inept regulation (regulators which, entirely coincidently of course, happen to be public sector organisations. Indeed, the whole whistleblowing process in this case fell down when a private sector employee reported the malpractice to the public sector regulator. I knew this would turn into a private vs public debate sooner rather than later which is why I initially said the blame should be shared across both sectors in this case to try and figure such a debate. I failed)

 

Ah, but instances of abuse or neglect in the public sector are less (I'm assuming) than in the private sector. Also, the public sector is naturally better placed to act and act quickly; there is not the focus on financing remedial measures in my experience.

 

Anyway, this whistleblowing department is not the underlying problem, we are talking about the causes in this case and one of the causes is without doubt paying unsuited people low wages for a job that is undervalued. I'd say that an army of carers being paid a couple of quid less an hour than their ps equals saves a lot of money, the balance sheet is more important than the bedsheet.

 

Whather we like it or not these situations show the clear problem in privatised care homes.

[dubai_phil]

Whather we like it or not these situations show the clear problem in privatised care homes.

 

No, it is more general than that.

 

Whether we like it or not it shows that Incompetent and Uncontrolled Management are a clear problem in any sector.

 

Considering the masses of Legislation imposed on Business and UK in general it is perhaps even more shocking that incompetent morons can still get 100k per year jobs in any walk of life.

 

However when it comes to CARE of people, NO organisation Public OR Private should be granted any licence (or employment) unless they understand that fairly important phrase

 

"Duty of Care"

 

They must have a FIRST AND OVER-RIDING Duty to Care, not a Duty to fill in forms and report on performance against targets

[trousers]

Ah, but instances of abuse or neglect in the public sector are less (I'm assuming) than in the private sector. Also, the public sector is naturally better placed to act and act quickly; there is not the focus on financing remedial measures in my experience.

 

Anyway, this whistleblowing department is not the underlying problem, we are talking about the causes in this case and one of the causes is without doubt paying unsuited people low wages for a job that is undervalued. I'd say that an army of carers being paid a couple of quid less an hour than their ps equals saves a lot of money, the balance sheet is more important than the bedsheet.

 

Whather we like it or not these situations show the clear problem in privatised care homes.

 

I partially agree. But disagree that this would somehow have been different if wholly under public control.

 

The main perpetrator in this case appears to have been mentally predisposed to behave the way he (and his accomplices) did. Indeed, there are reports this morning that he was on a decent wage and that he saw it as a cushy well paid job.

 

So using the 'poor paid and trampled upon private sector worker' plea doesn't wash in this case (as far as I can tell)

[hamster]

Phil, maybe I should have said some private care homes?

Either way, I'm not totally against a PPP arrangement but there needs tomb more focus on the 'partnership' in any future deal. Why not have the private company manage the public sector worker? Im not anti- managers (used to be, sadly) I see much more incompetence at service manager and above level than I do at the coal-face.

Edited 2 June, 2011 by hamster

[scott_saints]

I thought Wayne was very manly trying to start fights with all of them.

[hamster]

I thought Wayne was very manly trying to start fights with all of them.

 

Even in people with severe learning disabilities, there is almost always a trigger, I suspect that in Wayne's case (still haven't watched it) the perpetrators knew this fact better than they realise. Ironically their insight and valuable knowledge of him on such a personal level could have been used to vastly improve his quality of life.

 

Btw, out of doors community support programmes are coming to the fore now and we will hopefully see more and more disabled/disadvantaged people enjoying integrated activities. It may take a while but I hope to see less and less of these prison like institutions where abusers can hide.

[mickn]

Even in people with severe learning disabilities, there is almost always a trigger, I suspect that in Wayne's case (still haven't watched it) the perpetrators knew this fact better than they realise. Ironically their insight and valuable knowledge of him on such a personal level could have been used to vastly improve his quality of life.

 

Btw, out of doors community support programmes are coming to the fore now and we will hopefully see more and more disabled/disadvantaged people enjoying integrated activities. It may take a while but I hope to see less and less of these prison like institutions where abusers can hide.

 

If I've read this right then I'm assuming you think Wayne was one of the people being 'cared' for, he was a 'carer'.

[hamster]

If I've read this right then I'm assuming you think Wayne was one of the people being 'cared' for, he was a 'carer'.

 

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll have to watch I guess. BRB

[franny]

Only when coupled with ineffective and inept regulation (regulators which, entirely coincidently of course, happen to be public sector organisations. Indeed, the whole whistleblowing process in this case fell down when a private sector employee reported the malpractice to the public sector regulator. I knew this would turn into a private vs public debate sooner rather than later which is why I initially said the blame should be shared across both sectors in this case to try and figure such a debate. I failed)

 

This, why does it always degenirate into a public sector or private sector for profit debate.

We have seen people dying in the Staffordshire NHS hospital disgrace, we have seen the NHS criticised repeatedly for the poor quality and degrading care of elderly in hospital and we have seen the Baby P case where social workers did not deliver the correct level of care to the unfortunate child, poor care and mismanagement is not the sole preserve of the private sector.

If it was easy to deliver cheap top quality care and services why don’t government and or local authorities do it themselves? Successive governments (Labour and Tory) have closed public care homes and moved the recipients of those services to private homes or "care in the community" or moved the delivery of NHS services from public to private. Those private homes and services have not always been there, they grew because there was a demand from those labour/Tory Governements and LA's, that is the way of the private sector for anything, supply and demand, the strongest succeed the weakest fail. They moved to the private sector because they thought it would be cheaper and then put in place governance to ensure the service was of the correct quality and in this case clearly that governance has failed.

Surely the basic issue is not public or private but how we as society treat vulnerable people and whether or how much we want to pay for it. That can be paid to a public or private sector service since there are many private care services that deliver fine service, my sister spent several years in one and received compassionate excellent care.

[Deppo]

I have considered becoming a carer myself because of this incident because it's a national disgrace how badly our elderly are treated in some of these homes.

 

What would you have done if you were asked to "care" for some black or Asian people? Obviously, we've never met, but I can't for the life of me imagine anyone who would less suited to the role of caring for others.

[CB Saint]

What happened at that home was deplorable and the BBC should be commneded for exposing it. However what is troubling me is did the BBC notify the authorites as soon as they discovered the abuse or did they wait until broadcast. I truely hope it is the former otherwise people have suffered unneccesarily whilst the BBC have edited and compiled their programme

[Griffo]

Didn't watch it. What stuff was actually being done to the elderly?