If this is 'care', then I hope I'll never need it
By Janet Street-Porter
Thursday, 5 June 2008
I've said it before, and I'll say it again – if I show signs of dementia, don't bother putting me in a care home, just hand me a plastic bag and I'll dispose of myself without further ado.
All this week 70-year-old Deddie Davies has become the Donal McIntyre of the Today programme, filing undercover audio reports from a care home where she pretended to be suffering from mild dementia.
It's made depressingly listening. Day after day her fellow residents were left in a lounge from breakfast to supper with the television blaring. Pills were dished out by a nurse who left her trolley unattended and seemed more interested in what was on the screen than any of her patients.
Indeed, none of the carers seemed to have any interest in actually talking to the patients at all, and Deddie was woken up late one night by loud shouting, only to discover it was a member of staff on the telephone. The person supposed to organise activities didn't bother to show up, and Deddie's outing consisted of a trip to sit in the hall. In short, it was a dreary, demeaning place to die.
I don't care what people say about good and bad care homes, for a large number of people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's (set to rise to a million within 20 years), they are horrible places. The Commission for Social Care has just produced a report following a survey into conditions at a hundred care homes – and more than half were ordered to make fundamental improvements. One in five failed to treat their inmates with the dignity and respect they are legally entitled to.
Gilbert Brown told a court that he tried to commit suicide with his wife after he found conditions in her care home left a lot to be desired. Luckily, he was unsuccessful. When he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting attempted suicide, the judge decided he would not be sent to prison. The home in question says it's passed every inspection. What's needed is time to chat – and inspectors don't monitor that at present.
Abridged
SOURCE: TheIndependentUK
----------------------------------------------------
More Recent Posts from Spotlight on Elder Abuse
No comments:
Post a Comment