In watching this panorama documentary to...

[Psycobabble]

Want to punch the faces in of the staff who've been secretly filmed abusing the poor old people in care homes . Bastards. Anyone watching?

There's a serious lack of person centred care, of basic respect for another human being and the caring attitude needed to work in that sort of role.

It breaks my heart it really does.

Tequila - that is something that's come up on the programme people who have stood up and said something seem to be punished . How dare they have morals!

There is no excuse for the way there treat though speaking to them like shit mocking them and actually physically assaulting them

^^. No excuse under the sun for bullying such vulnerable people.

I blame the owners and the government. The owners need to be held to account they need to pay their staff more, they need more staff training, they need good managers, more spot checks, more prosecutions and more money directed to the clients care....

they need transparent feed back and open conversation between families and staff re the care and any worries, and safe staff whistle blower

psycho whistleblowing is the death knell for your job in some places. It was there. No-one liked me because I didn't go along with what they were doing. Like shoving people into bed early so they could sit in the lounge and watch the soaps.. or putting pads on people instead of helping them to the toilet.. or threatening them to shut up..

I left that place after a year

People in care homes are invisible. They get lost in the system.

Would constant CCTV (including constant random checks) help, or is that too hideous a thought?

It shouldn't be needed and I'm not sure of the ethics of it, but it would help I think.

Yeah, it's a pretty horrendous thought in all sorts of ways, Tequila, but I sort of wish it had been in place where I worked, and I also think I'd opt for it for a relative (provided it was closely guarded).

I agree clock. It's scary though that the sort of people being employed need CCTV to keep them in line. But it would be good for all sorts of things if used properly, like seeing patterns in night time wondering, evidence of violence resident to resident etc.

This is heartbreaking. I used to work in a nursing home back in 1990 and the residents living there had some wonderful back stories. one lady used to fly spitfires. I saw the photos. And one was a model back in the "What the Butler Saw" days.

Wheres the respect and care Wheres the humanity.

This is so so awful. And yet these exposes keep happening. But nothing seems to change.

Tequila god that's terrible no wonder you left! I couldn't do that job no way

There is in excuse for poor care and rubbish staff. There places charge about about £1k a week enough for a 5 star luxury all inclusive hotel yet they are treating people worse than prisoners.

I sadly wasn't surprised by this at all.

It's such a shame because I loved the job itself and I loved the people. Nothing made my day more than when one of them remembered my name (they were EMI patients, very advanced Alzheimer's, dementia etc) or said 'oh love, you're a star'. Singing songs from back in the day, taking them out for walks in their wheelchairs, painting the lady's nails and them being amazed at the colours.. such simple things but they touched my heart! I was only 17 when I started there.

Another one here working in a nursing home and seeing abuse every day. Not to the extent that was shown on TV but still, abuse. I work weekends. There is no strong leadership about. Senior carers are left to bully staff and other staff and agency workers.

I have thought on many occasions to whistle blow but the truth is that it's not just one or two bad carers its a whole culture that needs to change. I've decided that I'm going to stay and try to change things from within. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do it for much longer.

Of course being paid more than minimum wage and feeling valued in your job would help. But of course it's not as it's just wimmins work.

About training - I had 3 days of reading from books. It was supposed to be computer based learning but they didn't have the facilities. How can you learn how to provide personal care from a computer based training programme?

theeternal I asked for a pay rise once when I was moved up from being a Care Assistant to a Key Worker. I got refused on the basis of 'the agency staff will do your job for cheaper'.
They had a direct connection to an agency that supplied Nigerian workers, who were all lovely but spoke bad english so the residents couldn't understand them - making their job more difficult.

Good on you for wanting to change it. Document everything!

It's heartbreaking to hear Yvonne, I used to work in care, yes to some ute is just a job. I feel sick just watching it. I would rather die, than go into a care home. Profits above care.

Why did the family nit remove Yvonne earlier, why did they wait so long!

I remember being confused as to how the Dewani's could afford such a luxurious lifestyle and thought they must have other business interests there is no way operating care homes could be so lucrative.

Tequila - that is exactly what is wrong with the care industry. It's all about costs and cost cutting. What really is needed is strong key workers and senior care management who set the level of care required.

We also use agency carers frequently (on every shift there is at least one) as they find it so hard to recruit and retain staff. High staff turnover and frequent moves. In general agency staff seem to be fine but it's upsetting for the residents to have new staff helping with their personal care all the time. I've also noticed that the agency workers often get tasked with the more challenging residents and they are blamed for mistakes when they haven't ben briefed about any issues or special medical requirements to be taken into consideration. Response is that they are paid more than us so they should know anyway.

Yeah there's no continuity. The poor people have different staff seeing them everyday who haven't a clue as to how to treat them, deal with their conditions etc. I think people forget this is their home. They don't need strangers coming and going in and out of their lives. Part of being a carer is building a relationship and trust with your clients - staff turnover ruins this :(

Zombie is re-posting this from a similar thread in Chat:

Zombie's late MIL lived independently at home until a few weeks before her death. She then had a 'turn' of some type and was in hospital for about 2 1/2 weeks. She was transferred to a care home on a Friday.

Zombie visited her there on Sunday. MIL was physically frail but mentally sharp as a tack. MIL said she needed to go to the toilet. Zombie went out and asked for someone to come help her at least 5 times. MIL then wet herself. Zombie went back out and informed the staff. Fifteen minutes later a staff member came in, unceremoniously chucked Zombie out of the room (while MIL was begging that she be allowed to stay) and cleaned MIL up.

When the staff member left Zombie went back in to find MIL in tears. All she wanted to do was to pick MIL up and take her home. She knew that would have been exactly what DH would have done had he not died a year earlier. But she had no legal standing to do so.

MIL died two days later. This was nine years ago. Zombie has still not forgiven herself.

Zombie please don't blame yourself. It is NOT your fault. You and your MIL were failed. I'm so sorry