Woman complains about elder abuse
Megan Masters
5th November 2010
AN aged care worker claims she was sacked because she complained about the how elderly residents were being treated at a major Toowoomba home for the aged.
Personal carer Rosie Silk believes management of Shalom Toowoomba were not taking sanctions placed on them seriously.
Ms Silk was sacked from her position at the home after working there for only three weeks.
During that time, she made six complaints to management about elder abuse.
Some of the complaints concerned staff not following hygiene procedures like wearing gloves, nurses advising residents to make use of incontinence pads rather than toileting them and staff being generally disrespectful towards residents by refusing to do simple tasks like fetching something they wanted or needed.
Ms Silk said she had worked in aged care since she had left school and had never seen such lax care given to society's most vulnerable.
She has no desire to have her job reinstated, but wants to see more respect for elders.
“I have worked as a personal carer since I was 17 and I have never had a problem like this with my employers,” Ms Silk said.
“I'm not doing this for any reason other than that I want to see elder abuse stamped out.”
She has now taken her concerns to the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.
Shalom was placed under a six-month sanction by the Department of Health and Ageing in August after an inspection revealed serious risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of residents.
The department was unable to comment on the fresh allegations at this time.
A spokesperson said the department and the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency were monitoring the home.
The sanctions are due to expire on February 24, 2011.
Shalom director of patient care Fay Simpson said the matter had been referred to police after it was investigated on site.
“All I can tell you is we have done lots of investigation and it has been handed to and managed by police,” she said.
She said Ms Silk had been banned from the premises.
SOURCE: The Chronicle, Au
______________________________________
Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment