Please read this, and then ask me why I am a champion of dignity for the elderly,
When Stephen Ford went to visit his 93-year-old mum Irene in hospital, he was devastated by what he saw.
Irene had been left lying in her own faeces. Her mouth was red raw and encrusted from dehydration. Lying next to her was a plate of food and a pot of pills, which not one person had bothered to give her.
When he asked a nurse why his mum had been ignored, she looked uncomfortable and said she was "too busy" and couldn't he see it was obvious there were not enough staff?
So this is what it has come to. We have now hit such a shameful low it has become "normal" and acceptable to watch a fragile old lady rot away in a hospital bed. There was a time when a story like this would make us howl with outrage. But judging by the reaction of staff at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex, it's all in a day's work. She was old, get over it.
Two weeks after Irene was admitted, she died and the hospital got its bed back. Next!
The most soul-destroying part of Irene's story, apart from the casual acceptance of her criminal neglect, is that she is not alone.
A damning report by the Health Service Ombudsman out last week exposed the sickening extent of the NHS's failure to look after our elderly people.
It exposed at least 10 examples where dogs left to die in the street were treated better than old patients. Campaigners say this is just the tip of the iceberg. They estimate hundreds of elderly every year are victims of criminal neglect, yet not one doctor, nurse or administrator has been formally disciplined. It is happening all the time, in hospitals all over the country, yet nothing at all is being done about it.
No, I take that back. The Government is not doing "nothing". It has actually taken the noble decision to make the situation worse. It is - hold your breath - introducing laws that will be used to evict elderly patients who "block" beds.
So not only will our grandparents be neglected while they're in hospital, they'll be brutally turfed out of their beds when they've overstayed their welcome. The frail, confused and sufferers of dementia with nowhere else to go will be given 48 hours to bugger off, or else.
If they refuse, they'll be issued with a court order and could be forced to pay any legal fees incurred. On top of this, new stealth changes by the Department of Health will force thousands more elderly patients to pay their full care home costs.
God help them if their savings run out because they'll have nowhere else to go.
I am ashamed to live in a society that is treating an entire generation like Third World dogs.
These men and women worked hard all their lives to make the world a better place for us, yet all the thanks they get is abject neglect and a court order.
We need all the help we can to provide for our elderly parents, yet the options are terrifying.
Instead of doing everything in its power to stop this national scandal, this so-called "family-friendly" government is slashing more costs from the NHS and the care system. Instead of pontificating about collective responsibility, it should be cracking down on the culprits who let women like Irene die in their beds.
It should be introducing spot checks in hospitals and making staff accountable for what is effectively the manslaughter of the old and vulnerable.
They are so busy lecturing us about Big Society they haven't noticed our grandparents are dying of thirst in their beds. Where's the humanity in that?
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Tom,
I couldn`t agree more. Rather than me tell similar horror stories andpick scabs off my old wounds, as it were, could I inject a bit of humour ?
An 83 yr old friend went into hospital and when his 70 yr old wife asked for a pan for him 3 times, they were refused 3 times and told, `There are 3 nurses on for 30 odd sick patients.` Yes he soiled himself and his wife had to clear it up.
Later I sent him a get well card with the words inside:
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF !
I nearly wrote underneath: Because no one else is going to...
but felt if a nurse read it, it wouldn`t help the patient.
Not to speak about Older People in general, but specifically people with Mental Health issues - a more positive note re: my job (Psychiatric Liaison).
Example:
A lady [this is a 'hypothetical' lady here, but the scenario is based on regular assessments I do] aged 83 years old. Very confused. No evidence of confusion in the past... brought into hospital following a fall. Fall sorted, no bones broken.
Now this lady has a urine infection, and this could likely have been present prior to admission - it may even be impacting on/causal to confusional state. She is given antibiotics for this.
Because the leg is sorted - she is seen to be 'hospital fit' - i.e. ready for discharge... but they want a 'psyche assessment' about the confusion.
So... I have a good nosey at the notes, do a bit of detective work and request a second urine test to see if the antibiotics have worked and the infection has gone.
And it hasn't.
So... I can't get 'the full picture' until hopefully resolved, but continue to monitor her progress.
In the meantime, as long as the confusion is there, I sate she is NOT fit for discharge.
If it's a VERY busy acute ward, it would be better for her to be in a quieter environment to help reduce anxiety and prevent further confusion - although disruptive to move her, it's the lesser of two evils, and her needs can then be met better.
And there you go - she doesn't get chucked out onto the street... nor does she automatically go into 24 hour care.
Many things will be required if the confusion is still present... including a possible CT scan/further tests...
An assessment to see what her ability to look after herself is...
Assessment of mobility and see if there are any further falls risks identified.
An assessment of this lady's capacity re: where she is living when discharged (if relevant) - is she safe? Can she identify hazards?
And when support is needed, it will be to meet her needs and it will be there to support and help her to maintain her independence and dignity as much as is possible.
Long winded I know, but that's basically the kind of thing I do for a living - my view?
If someone were going to check out and do these assessments, and involve people to support me and help me to keep my skills I'd be happy - or if it was for a relative of mine I'd be pleased and reassured that all this was being done.
So there ARE horror stories, but there are also POSITIVE ones too.
:)
Sounds wonderful Neil. I've cared for my mum for more than 13 years and she's been in and out of hospital many times with utis and NEVER experienced the level of care and support you describe. Horror stories - we have those in abundance.
I'm glad someone has some common sense and considers the patient first.
I wish you worked in our hospital.
Hi Neil the hospital you work in sounds like they value the need for a true assessment.
I am a manager of a residential setting which is home to 60 people over 65 years of age and just wanted to let you know why i am a dignity Champion .
I pride myself in the fact that people with in our setting their home are supported to remain independant regardless of their diagnosis or care needs .
We have supported some to a level where they have moved on from our setting, their home with us, to become even more independant by moving abroad to be with relatives and into extra care housing complexes.
The staff at the home embrace the work they do and assessments are carried out by myself on all aspects of personal ability and not just by means of an assessment by a social worker .
When someone shows confusion or unfamiliar traits with in their home we dig deep for an explanation ,infection ,bad news, or a disagreement with someone else that lives in the setting.
The people that live in the setting have a say in all aspects of the running of their home especially recruitment.
We also support the relatives in away that includes them in the daily life of their loved ones offering advice and training to enable them to be part of the extended family we have all become.
We try to ensure that later years of life are as fulfilled as the individual wishes them to be.
many years ago our frail elderly lived in hospitals which were just for the elderly, whats happened.
very well said good on you for taking the time to write this post
I currently work (as a social work practitioner) in one of the hospital that was found to working below the required standards.................I wont say which one.
I also happen to provide social work support to one of the wards that was inspected and found 'wanting by CQC and I have just been given a copy of the report that was written as a result of the inspection - the contect of the report details basic nursing failures - they have forms in place that do not get filled out, they have call bells that patients cant reach or dont know how to use, they have fluid charts and food charts in place that are out of date and not completed.the list and the report goes on and on, they are banged to rights and there is no excuse.
As a previous manager of residential and nursing resources I can see that the fundemental fault lays with there being much to much focus on complaince, audit completion and statistic reaching - noone has time to actually hands on care, observe and treat - they are all much too busy filling in the hundreds of forms, graphs and tick boxes that are simply everywhere.
It all boils down to qualititve versus quantitive data - nursing staff are required to fill in so many differing types of records with codes, dots and ticks that no-one actually writes anything truly observational and unique anymore. Im sure that these measures were originally introduced to 'save time' so nurses could spend more time hands on actually doing the job they are supposedly trained for (although I have my doubts when I see some practices) but this practice has become so distorted that one checklist leeds to another form, which triggers a audit tool, and so on ,and so on.
The upshot of this extremely poor and uninspired practice is that I and other health professionals often end up having the same conversation with nurses on the ward and over the phone about the same few people and it becomes like 'chinese whispers' as the facts and any useful information are rarely recorded (and by useful I mean information that could actually contribute to someones plan for care and support on discharge). My fear, and my observations from experience are that if nurses cant write adequate and accurate information about a patient on one place, then they certainly wont be able to mange it in three, four and sometimes five places!
As far as I can see this hospital's response to the damming reports are to introduce a whole other tier of form filling, compliance and audits by senior people who bear down with clipboards in hand on the poor demoralised and poorly managed staff, applying even more pressure on them, which in turn only creates the potential for more mistakes and ommissions.
As a previous manager of residential and nursing resources I can see that the fundemental fault lays with there being much to much focus on complaince, audit completion and statistic reaching - noone has time to actually hands on care, observe and treat - they are all much too busy filling in the hundreds of forms, graphs and tick boxes that are simply everywhere.
The above was from the previous poster, and it highlights a fundamental problem of protocols. You can either define 'the principles' and allow properly qualified and trained staff to 'just do your job', or you can define 'tick-box rules to follow'. And 'just do your job' may work better, but is harder to 'check up on' with hindsight, as it does not necessarily leave a paper-trail.
Tick-box rules, fail in relatively unusual situations, when competent application of fundamental principles still works. And the tick-box rules frustrate competent individuals. But inadequately qualified and trained staff, are terrified of 'not having clear rules to follow' because of their own insecurity.
This is an absolute so-and-so to address, but it is the reason why so many protocols and policies start with a few fundamental principles, but end up as pages of detailed 'rules', which then often get 'applied in the wrong situations'.
When you add in multi-role co-operation, and the fact that everyone's own 'common sense' is not actually common across different groups, but only common within a group of similar people, all situations which involve a lot of people, become very problematic !
Sorry I digressed a bit !
Oh dear so many words I will never understand! Again people have become lost in an argument that does not relate to the initial question.I am a champion of dignity for the elderly because I promote their rights and stand up for them when these are failed. The CQC have alot to answer for as their checks are not suitable, most unannounced visits are well known in advance and their staff ratios are well out of date. To promote better care, support and independance, levels need to be increased along with more training and a better pay rate. For many years I have been at the bottom of the pile when it comes to care, but now I actually embrace it. I may be the carer but I know and understand more than any GP or social worker about the individuals I have the pleasure to work with.
So thats why !!
Thank goodness for this balanced reply. I have worked in one of the Hospitals that have recently been in the papers. I cannot tell you how soul destroying it is to go to work doing a15hour shift with few breaks if any somedays, doing the best job you can with the majority of your colleagues doing the same then to be slated in the National and local press and catagorised as given appalling care. Just remember many of the nurses and support workers are doing their upmost to offer excellent care but sometimes due to circumstances beyond their control they cannot. It is upsetting ending a shift knowing that you may have had to leave a patient to soil themselves, and I have never known a relative have to clean up their relative in hospital and would be appalled if this had happened on my ward. Remember were not all 'monsters' we came into this proffession because we'care'
wonderful post
Sometimes as a carer I feel ashamed when you read some of these horror situations. I work in a wonderful nursing home. We believe it is the residents home that we share its a family from residents,management,nurses,carers, kitchen staff,domestics to family and friends.
We have regular assessments and on going training.
Dignity and respect is not an option it is a human right.Okay our nursing home is not a massive care home we only have 34 residents some long term some restbite. We take time to listen,talk,entertain and encourage family and friends to visit at anytime.
Every person has the right of choice that should always be respected what is right for one is not always right for another, every person is a individual and should be treated as so.
I feel such empathy when a person or family member has to find a good home/nursing home especially when you hear or read such horrific stories, but be assured there are some really good places and I myself feel proud to work in such a wonderful place.
When I was a Team Leader/Assessor in Domiciliary care, I made regular visits to all service users, and ensured that, they were receiving appropriate care as per their care needs, and were being treated with respect and dignity. All human beings have a right to be treated with dignity despite their race, culture, age, religion or ethnic background. People are different and they have different care needs and they should be cared for in the way they want their care to be done.
I totally agree with you
Marie Beasley