abuse in care

graham anthony carter 03/10/15 Dignity Champions forum

hi guys
as regards my problems i have had. re whistle blowing. the company are now making moves to sack me .some of the abusers have got to gether and made up stories about me . thier is a fair bit of proof to show that the stories are not true .and also some of the things that are being said happend 2 months ago. no of it was put through the company procedure .it was sprung on me when i returned from holiday thier is widespread abuse going on so clearly the abusers do not wont me about .the company has failed to protect me .and indeed have helped the abusers. where do i go from here. and how do i defend my self

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mike stone 03/10/15

Hi Graham,

I'm sorry to say this, but 'you defend yourself with great difficulty'.

I've never been in your situation, so I cannot really advise on 'what to do in the real world' - you need advice from people who have either been in a similar situation, or who are 'well on top of the law'.

Does Citizens Advice still exist ? If it does, you could try visiting them. I don't think your problem is necessarily quite 'their role' but you might try asking your local HealthWatch for advice - they might tell you something useful.

I have a nasty, gut feeling, that 'the theoretical options' and 'the real world' could well be very different, in the situation you are in (my own experience, was of a disagreement with a Primary Care Trust a few years back, and the total uselessness of the PHSO).

Sorry I can't help,

Best wishes Mike

Mike Llywelyn Cox 03/10/15

Hi Graham. Try http://www.pcaw.org.uk

Heddwch

Mike

Mike Llywelyn Cox

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All views and statements expressed here are entirely my own and, unless stated otherwise, not those of any other individual or organisation.

amanda davies 03/10/15

you cant win when the bullies are ganging up on you. I suggest writing statements and get witness statements and consulting your union representative. contact cissw anonymously. wish you luck and the truth will come out in the end good luck

Mike Llywelyn Cox 03/10/15

Amanda’s post is very good information. I fully agree with her.

Heddwch

Mike

Mike Llywelyn Cox

All views and statements expressed here are entirely my own and, unless stated otherwise, not those of any other individual or organisation.

graham anthony carter 04/10/15

hi amanda
i have made statements. going back to nov last yr. it all started when
a service user that i was caring for .was covered in bruises .but when
i asked other careers how these came about i was told that he had fits
and it was happening in his sleep.but i also noticed that it was not
being recorded. in notes or body charts . then one day one of the
carers inflicted a great deal of pain on the service user in front of
me. to be honest how i never hit him i don't know .but i reported him
for abuse . he was not suspended .and was alowes to carry on working
with me .and was instrumental in making my life hell. across the site
.how ever my main concern was to stop the abuse. so i started to make
records of the daily bruising.ie body charts . and daily
notes.describing it as unexplained. this again made me very unpopular
with some of the staff. but i noticed that within a wk all the bruises
had st oped.this i documented. and reported to the management on
email. because of this my house manager .started to harrase and
victimize me .it was clear to me that their was a cover up . i was
then forced to be removed from that house. and put in to a not her
house on the same site. all was well for about 3mths . the manager i
complained about was .let off they say their was no evidence .but i
know their was.in the new house where i was put. i had a few
occasion's when a permanent nite worker was verbally abusing a service
user. using disgusting language . i simply told her that i did not
accept that and if i saw it again i would take action to stop it . as
i had had so much trouble previously .i did not wont the same
treatment . then the abuser started to try to bully me. i talked to
the house manager with my concerns. and asked her to have a word. to
stop it .i also told my house manger.that i was concerned that the
person harassing me would involve others . my manager then did nothing
but started to victimise me by not talking to me leaving me out of
overtime i was in fact ostracized .then what happened was other people
were encouraged to get involved.i simply told them if they continued i
would make a complaint of harassment.on that shift i was ignored by
the supervisor. for the whole shift.
this for me was the last straw. when he went home i went to the main
office to alert the management what was going on .this was on the 23rd
of June. the following day .i went on a wks holiday . when i got home

Rochelle Monte 04/10/15

I totally understand the stress and pain associated with whistleblowing, but remain strong in your conviction that you are doing the right thing! I would advise all care staff to join unison they supported me fantastically at a time a provider wanted nothing more than to have me barred from working with vulnerable adults, I stood up and showed people that the abuse was ignored and covered up. Luckily I have moved on but I know how hard it can be with the tag of whistleblower on your name! We cannot allow these people to get away with this continued abuse! I am happy to further discuss in email as I now have further advice relating to reporting [log in to view email address]
Don't let the bastards get you down! I apologise for my swear words but it infuriates me!!

Mike Llywelyn Cox 04/10/15

Hi Graham.

Join the club, and what an honourable club it is. You and other whistleblowers are gradually improving the safety of impaired people. If you want to take it further I suggest sending your report to the CQC along with the name of the organisation.

Heddwch

Mike

Mike Llywelyn Cox

All views and statements expressed here are entirely my own and, unless stated otherwise, not those of any other individual or organisation.

Sue Wright 05/10/15

Hi Graham,
Having been in your situation some time back now I was fortunate that The RMN I worked with was also a friend and I wasn't the only one reporting a abusive carer. I left the home only to return this year and the abusive carer was still there, it all got swept under the carpet. My advise is get in touch with CQC and report the home then go to CAB and talk to them if u have been in the job for a few years. I reported the former care home to CQC if u have evidence all the better
I suggest you look around for another job as u are fighting a losing battle
Good luck :)

mike stone 05/10/15

Hi Graham,

Rochelle will know what she is talking about - I suggest that you contact her by e-mail, it might help you.

Hi Rochelle - 'long time no hear' - as for your:

'Don't let the bastards get you down! I apologise for my swear words but it infuriates me!!'

Don't apologise for the 'swear' words - it damn well infuriates me as well !

PS I'm very pleased that we can now include our e-mail addresses on this website (something some websites allow [the BMJ does] but others don't - I'm pretty strongly 'for allowing').

graham anthony carter 05/10/15

hi sue
thank you for your .email . ime afraid i am a different chariter than
your self . i will not be forced out of my job .buy bulling abusers.
and the whole point of it .is to protect the ones being abused.and i
find your attitude somewhat defeatist. some people say out of site out
of mind . i refuse and can not get it out of my mind my conscience
wont allow it
regards graham

Rochelle Monte 05/10/15

I must apologise Graham and Mike, I appear to have a problem with outgoing emails! They keep bouncing back , I will attempt to log onto someone else's computer I don't think we should ever give up in the fight for dignified respectful care but I understand the comment about finding another job. I stuck it out while challenging an employer only to find myself accused of being a risk, they were willing to try anything to get rid of me given the fact they didn't want to address the problems I was highlighting. Being a whistleblower makes you a target but along with protecting those receiving services you must protect yourself. Think of the safety demonstration on an aeroplane, fix your own oxygen mask first! Keep shouting but do it in the correct manner, local safeguard team plus follow up with report to cqc, every incident with as much detail as possible, dates, times people responsible. But join the union, unison are willing to support us in this fight and it costs pennies. Especially given the changes to tribunal costs put in place by this government, only with the support of a union can you expect to be taken seriously as they will subsidise the cost. Also video / photo evidence is fantastic, they can't hide from that! Assuming you are not working it's a shame you can't record photos of any logs????

graham anthony carter 13/10/15

hi rochell
to day they have sacked me . they have statements of abuse and are hideing these i have reported to the cqc .where do i go from here

mike stone 15/10/15

Hi Graham,

I'm afraid I can't help - all I can do is to express my sympathy, and my 'rage' that what happened to you (shooting the messenger, instead of properly addressing the message) seems to be all too common in healthcare, and is still going on even after Sir Robert Francis investigated the issue and published a report.

Best wishes (which are pretty-much useless) Mike

graham anthony carter 26/10/15

hi guys i have now been sacked.the last desclosure i made was on the 24th of june .i made this to top management .i went for a wks holiday on the 25th of june.
when i got home on the 2nd of july i had a suspension not at home .the company is now saying that i disclosed on the 25th .and that they put thier conplaints in about me first. this is totaly untrue. and very worring as it tells me that the company is very corrupt.and will go to any level to cover up .one of my co workers told her house manager that one of the service users was having fits in his sleep.the house manager told her to keep her mouth shut cos she did not wont the paperwork.the co worker reported it to c.q.c .one morning the service user got up to go to the kitchen .had a fit fell and broke his pelvis . he will never walk again . it can not be repaired .i have reported this to social services .they have investigated and said that the company did it correctly and doctor involved etc .the doctor was only involved after the fall. if the manager would have listened to the carer this would not have happend and a man of 43 would not be in his bed for the rest of his life. and the cover up continues .and i refuse to give up until some action is taken .i just find it sick

Rochelle Monte 26/10/15

Graham I am so sorry, I assume you didn't join unison? How long were you employed by them? I would contact acas , also report to cqc and local safeguard team, try social care direct through your local authority. Who is the company?? What was the terms of you being sacked? I