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?

Zombie how awful, please don't beat yourself up.

Yet another care assistant here. It's a tough job. Lot of physical violence directed at staff, uninterested managers, minimum wage.
I have also not long lost my job, slowly pushed out after whistle blowing. After being told by my lead carer to "I just punch them in the head, the bruises don't show"
The CQC couldn't organise a piss up in a pub.
I won't work in care again.

Oh Zombie. I'm so sorry. Please don't blame yourself. I'm ashamed of myself that I haven't spoken out so many times. It's so hard to do. You and your MIL were in a vulnerable position. You were failed by exactly the people who were supposed to help you both.

Zombie not your fault pet. You had no choice. Poor MIL.

que that's awful. A bit like the 'if you hit me again i'm going to smack your wife when she comes in' that I heard

Tequila

Don't mean to sound patronising Que but I applaud you for reporting. At least you can sleep at night with a clear conscience. There are so many problems in care homes. Institutions like these are just set up for abuse and good carers who want to change things are just not supported to do so. Sad.

Zombie that's so sad you shouldn't blame yourself though x

Thanks all. Zombie has never told SIL about this. It would destroy her. She and BIL had gone away for that weekend after sitting by her bed in hospital every day.

Thank you eternal worth being sacked for!, just hope it helped.

Why oh why did Joan's daughter Did not remove her mother after being confronted with the evidence. I hope she has done so now.

As a mental health nurse i worked in dementia care for six years we had to send patients with behavioral issues to some appalling homes they were registered as EMI to get more money but generally they could not cope with our patients and they would often be referred back and when they came back they often had lost lots of weight and looked terrible!

Carers are being assaulted daily and have no training with how to cope.

One carer I know had the end of her nipple bitten off by a client - the client clearly needed restraint and medical care ie. drugged to stop him assaulting everyone

But of course the nhs don't want to take them into hospital as it's much cheaper in residential care

Getting your nipple bitten off for £6.31 an hour ?

My dm worked as a cleaner in a care home years ago. One Christmas she looked at the schedule and discovered that for that day she was down as a carer, along with the other cleaners. There were no trained carers scheduled to work that day and yes they had patients with dementia.
My dm was also having to cook given that nobody was scheduled.

She did blow the whistle on that and the 'carer' she saw punch a resident.

People often ask why my vulnerable dsis is still living at home and not in residential 'care'

Surely if someone punches a resident the appropriate response is to call the police?

Laurie [shocked] is she okay.

I feel really strongly that the profit motive should be taken out of care homes. Not sure what the alternative

A friend of mine is a paramedic and says that the crews quickly pick up which care homes are "dodgy". They're the ones with lots of call outs for dehydrated patients, frequent falls etc. They also notice how the staff treat the residents when they're attending to them, the level of care and concern, how they speak to them. She said if ever somebody wanted to know which was the best care home in a particular area, one of their "checks" should be a quiet word with the local ambulance crew.

Thanks for that tip nice new dusters

I think the idea of compulsory CCTV cameras is great. Combined with more frequent spot checks from the CQC, where they could demand to see footage from the previous day, and an elevation in the pay and status of carers, and we might be on the way to safeguarding the elderly residents of awful care homes such as those featured on the programme - only the tip of the iceberg, I fear.

That's a good idea mrsruff if you are a good carer you will not mind

When I spoke out about abuse I had witnessed I was hauled into the office and made to repeat what I had said in front of 2 managers and the abuser! She was given a slap on the wrist and allowed to carry on while I was labelled as a troublemaker and according to the cqc it had been satisfactorily dealt with in house!

No one gives a shit as long as the money keeps rolling in.

Newton for you.

How about a special under-cover agency funded by the government, planting professional whistle-blower carers?

Although that would expensive and would require the powers that be to give a shit.

That's horrible Newton but sadly not uncommon. Whistle blowing doesn't seem to be making much of a difference by it's self. There needs to be a whole culture change and I don't just mean top down policies that aren't put into practice actually in units in their day to day activities.

I think what we need is a matron type figure who has personal and professional authority and good values and skills who can keep an eye on what is going on in nursing homes and with staff and residents. At the moment in my home we don't see any management. They are in the office. Our unit is left without a Capitan or leader that you can go to for training, advice or help. The attitude amongst staff is "why should I help, I'm not the boss, I get paid the same as you". And actually I agree with them. Why would someone want to take charge if they are not getting paid for it??

Gobbolino, if you don't mind me asking, those "carers" who were cruel bullies, how did they behave with the relatives of the residents?

I visit the elderly father of my best friend who lives abroad. I'm probably his only visitor, unless friend is home on hols. He is in advanced stages of dementia and has no short term memory to speak of. He is clean as are his surroundings and always cheerful and still eats well. His carers all seem professional and kind and, well, caring. This is a council run care home. I'd hate to think I've got the wrong impression of the place.