Frustrated at how people in care homes are denied basic freedoms

[Nananananana]

Work in various homes as agency staff. A lady has just asked me if I can get her up at 10am instead of 8:15.. reported this back to the permanent staff and they said, no, she has to get up now. Tell her she needs to get up now.
Why?
Or they have to be put to bed at 7am.
I understand that some have morning medication etc. But this can be given whilst they're in bed still if needed, just woken up for it/something to eat then back to sleep if they want.
I've seen this across different homes, it probably happens in many.
Feels like they're in a prison sometimes, why should they be denied basic freedoms?
They pay thousands to live here.

ZealAndArdour

It happens in hospitals too, it’s a form of institutional abuse.
Yes.
I'm disabled and a frequent flyer and have to watch it all, and directly suffer a fair amount of it.
Your post made me swallow hard. Thank you, please don't change.

They’re aren’t allowed to do this. It’s a form of institutional abuse and staff should have had training around this.

it certainly isn’t like that in every care home. I’d actually be taking it higher if they weren’t respecting the right of the residents.

If I was a carer who had been booked to arrive at a specific time to deliver necessary care to someone who couldn’t look after themselves, I would, of course want to let the family know if that person was inexplicably absent, just in case there was something wrong. If your mum went missing and you then found out the carer had said nothing when they found her house empty the previous day, you would be furious.

Also, that time the carer wasted turning up at the house for no reason could have been spent with another client who might have really benefited from some extra attention.

Not really. She's still paying the agency and the carer.

The point is that care homes need to be run in a way that makes it possible. When you are taking over £1K a week from someone, it's the least you can do.

So? That's doesn't mean it's not selfish, instead of just phoning to say we don't need x today which would take a few seconds, the carer travelled to the property, had no answer and so had to phone - probably whilst running through all sorts of scenarios and wondering whether this would be a situation where the person was unconscious inside and had to escalate. Just because someone is paid for a service it doesn't mean you can treat them like crap and waste their time.

yep ,having worked in care homes before & whilst I did my healthcare degree, then working in the NHS and visiting care homes as part of my role, i would personally book a trip to Switzerland before voluntarily going into one. However having seen a number of different care settings I would say there are HUGE variations in the dignity, respect and care shown to residents and some places are absolutely lovely and provide outstanding care ..whereas once on a ward we had someone admitted from a NH with maggots in their bandages (not deliberately part of the wound care I hasten to add!!) ,so shows the extremes. Having been an 18 yr old doing bank/temporary care home work and knowing absolutely nothing at the time other than being told I had to do x.y.z at certain times of the day and being faced with so many vulnerable people to get up and get ready, get toiletted,fed etc, I didn't know any better but as a minimum wage job it's really a lot to put on someone and it takes maturity (and financial security!!)before you are able to start standing up for the people you care for.

I remember seeing an tv programme with a hidden camera . It was shocking !! Cords to pull for assistance tied up so the resident couldn’t use them . Residents being put to bed at 7pm , my mum is mid 80s and stays up until 11 every night .
Care homes need to be regulated and care workers need to report this abuse 😞

I guess a basic problem is breakfast is probably served at 7.30 or similar and everything cleaned away by 8.30. So if she got up at 10, there’s no breakfast and it’s not practical for the kitchen to make hers separately, staff supervise one person eating etc. If everyone wanted their own different routine it just wouldn’t work.

I know, same when I was a carer. Working in this industry showed me I can't let my parents live in a care home.

It depends on the home. The one my mother was in regularly organised activities and outings (apart from during lockdown), had a hairdresser come in, etc. They would also do quite impromptu fun things, e.g. a party when it was one of the carer staff's birthdays. They weren't charging extra, in fact prices were fully in line with those charged at other care homes we investigated, and they were lower than many.

I have a lot to say about care homes but I'll stick to the brief points. Carers earn pittance yet some of the residents are spending a fortune to live there.

There has to be a routine or everything goes out the window. There is some flexibility but more often it has to stick within the confines. I know that care homes often seem like prisons and they are horrible places but care staff are under enormous pressure to complete all their duties.

Carers also have to swallow their tongue a lot when interacting with some of the resident's family members. If you cared that much then take your mum home with you. Carers suffer from empathy fatigue. At some point it really does become I need to give number 34 medication at 8pm then go and change number 47 etc etc - there is no time for anything else.

When I briefly worked in care it was categorically the worst job I'd ever had.

P.s. this IS deprivation of liberty in this specific instance unless there are specific aspects of her care plan that you don't know about that means she isn't entitled to leave the home alone. There should be clear arrangements that a resident knows about for how she can go out if she wishes to but I think covid has led to a huge problem over how an individuals rights are managed.

Glad I work in a care home, that is person centred care.

I'm sure there was a similar post months ago.

There's no way your mum could of done this.
It's a tricky situation and I think some people haven't done the job personally.

Night staff even get residents dressed and put them back in bed! On average I looked after 8 residents (some needing 2 members of staff to assist) how can 1 person get 8 people washed and dressed and breakfast given by letting people get up when they want?

The sorry truth is there's simply not enough staff and a bit like school and nursery you need structure and when you have limited staff and poorly paid wages....

I saw deprivation of liberty happening multiple times. Locking people in their rooms so they wouldn't stroll out, keeping the outer gates locked so again they wouldn't stroll out. The carer has tons of tasks to complete without spending half the afternoon panicking if gran went for a stroll then got lost. Sorry but carers just don't have the time for it. If they want to eat dinner later that's fine but they'll be given their dinner at say 7:30pm - they can leave it on the side if they want.

Bit rude to go out when expecting carers, who are overworked and underpaid, isn't it?

I had a call at 7:30 in the evening from one of my mum's carers to say my mum wasn't there.
I pointed out my mum wasn't a prisoner and was at liberty to go out if she so chose.

Well, if you or your mother booked the carer, your mother kinda needed to be there to receive the said care, no?

And I hope the carer still got paid for the call. Not their fault the su wasn’t home (ex-carer here who was regularly mucked about both by service users and agencies after spending 25 mins’ sitting in traffic).

A care home is supposed to be someone's home, and carers don't always seem to remember that and run it more like a military operation. It might be because they are super stretched and stressed, but staff also seem to get institutionalised in their approach.. Small things like they decide what 'has' to be on the TV instead of listening to what the residents want. Or deciding who sits with who at dinner. Or randomly removing half the chairs from the lounge even though it means residents can't use it as much. All stories from my mam's place.

Lol its nothing like a prison. Bet you've never spent time in either.

Bit rude to go out ehen you are expecting carers
Quite a lot of people see carers as some kind of lowly serf unfortunately. Sad thing is the carer probably won't even be paid for the wasted trip.

Have you any idea how much it costs to run a care home ? Think about the heating and lighting and maintenance bills alone. Then start on the wages that need to be paid out.

When you also consider that when in care home you have no bills at all, no shopping bills, no home to look after it dosent work out too badly.

Care homes offer a service, it's also a business. We need them.

I've been in a number of care homes and seen both good and poor practice (and challenged or reported the latter when necessary).

For those quoting the high cost for a care home, bear in mine this covers everything 24 hours a day 7 days a week. £1000 a week (though a seemingly shocking amount) equates to only £5.95 per hour to cover
accomodation, electric, gas, water, repairs, laundry, all meals, activities, carer wages, provision and servicing of specialist equipment eg: adjustable beds and hoists, ppe, cleaning supplies, insurance, care home registration costs, staff training, groundskeeping etc etc

If you cared that much then take your mum home with you.

Don't be so fucking cruel. In some cases people aren't physically or mentally able to care for an elderly patient, especially one with dementia, and they spend days, weeks, months, feeling the guilt that they can't care for them.

Its not a case of not caring so we place them in a care home, it because we do care amd can't provide 24/7 care, that we do it.

Attitudes like yours is what makes it harder for people to decide to place family members in care.

Not all care and residential homes are like this. Dh visits an awful lot of them as part of his job to see his clients and/or their families.

The best ones do not have strict routines and regimented life for their residents.

Sadly not everyone gets a choice over which care or residential home they can live in, due to financial restraints.

No adult should be forced to go to bed at 7-8pm just cause they've got older and need help. It's a lack of dignity and loss of autonomy, and it generally isn't in the resident's best interests. It's done to make the running of the home easier, not because it's better for the adults being cared for.