Care Home Neglect and Abuse - we have cctv footage - what to do ?

[whiteswan123]

Hi - I am going to be a bit vague knowing this is a public board.

My Father lives in a care home - he has full capacity but is registered blind and is wheelchair bound as he has had 2 strokes.

Due to a safeguarding concern last year I installed cctv into his room.

The home were aware of this - it was not covert.

In the past few weeks a number of "abuse" and "neglect" allegations have come to light - and the cctv is being reviewed - it has already provided evidence of my Fathers call buzzer being ignored and him being left to soil himself (regularly) - and also evidence of "abuse" - I am not going to elaborate at this point.

I have provided the home immediately with 2 short clips from the footage to begin a complaint and also begin the safeguarding process that is underway.

At the moment there are 3 safeguarding complaints being looked into by social services with regards to my Father - 2 from myself and a third that has been reported to social services by an outside visitor to the home (this last one we only found out about last week - the home had neglected to tell myself (I visit every day) that an outside body had made a complaint..

I have contacted the CQC with all my concerns.

Unfortunately this is the third time in 6 years of being in care homes that my Father will have needed safe guarding to become involved in his care - twice at this home and once at a previous home where the Police were involved.

To be honest I getting annoyed at the inability of anybody to do anything at all about my Fathers situation.

Can I have your personal thoughts about contacting Press/Media with the footage I have obtained.

I would hate to do anything in the spur of the moment that would damage my Fathers case later on.

Thank You for your time in reading this.............

I'm sorry you and your DDad are going through this. Could you have an initial consultation with a solicitor?

I agree a consultation with a solicitor would be a useful step. Check the Law Society'sd pages for Solicitors for the Elderly.
Maybe Age UK can advise?
I sometimes go on to the Alzheimer Soc talking point. I think some other people on the forum have also used CCTV in their parents' care homes. It might be worth posting your query there.

For the abuse I would go to the police.

Thank You for the responses.....

Yet another safeguading investigation has been started for another seperate incident with regrads to my Dad - only found out last night.

Sorry If I'm being silly here but what can a solicitor do - to what end would I need one ?

Dave

Could you get the police involved again? I would want to see these horrible individuals pay for what they have done.

I'd go down police route as well. If nothing else it stops the bastards getting a job in another home.

My grandparents spent their last years in two wonderful homes, there are lovely places and carer's out there.

As a vulnerable member of society your sad story doesn't surprise me.

If you can, care for your vulnerable loved ones yourself. I know it is not practical, it's the best way to keep them safe.

I'm sorry that you are going through this. If they behave like this with CCTV installed I dread to think how the other residents are treated :(

i would second police with that many incidents, just want to hug your dad what evil individuals

?
I think it would be better to insist on high standards of care and accountability Joan, with an ever increasing elderly population and shrinking numbers of younger people, caring for the elderly at home won't be just impractical it will be impossible.

As it is I doubt we have enough people in the UK to staff care homes and we will have to rely increasingly on overseas workers to care for the elderly ?

I thought the government wanted to close carehomes and keep people in their own homes or be cared for by family.

Don't go to the media - once published the footage can't always be used in court for prosecution.

Go to the local council safeguarding team. Go to the police. Ask the home for their safeguarding policy to ensure they are following it to the letter.
Who owns / runs the home? Is it a large company or small private?

Its a Large Care Home Company

I have spoken to a solicitor this morning and they say they can't get involved unless a successful prosecution is brought.

Dave

"keep people in their own homes or be cared for by family"
My cynical view says this is a cheaper alternative, because the person gets a short visit three times a day, and there's no accommodation cost. However, I maybe proved wrong. I feel it's often much better to be in a caring nursing home, where there is plenty of company and people to notice when things are going wrong, than to be alone at home.

I personally would not contact the media. Besides the evidence issue, everyone will then know who you are, and you may find it difficult to find another home to take your poor father, should that be necessary. Someone told me they had complained about the standard of care at a nursing home during a respite stay, and that home refused to take the person back for the next respite stay.

I would also speak to the doctor to seek their views. I know my mum's doctor had been contacting the CQC etc about various issues in her nursing home, and speaking to the care home manager every week, too. I came to the conclusion that everyone knew about the issues. However, it was all hushed up, because there wouldn't be enough care places if homes providing inadequate care stopped accepting new patients until they had sorted out their issues.

I also wanted to send you my sympathies. It's so hard and stressful pursuing this. Also, by visiting every day, you see things that visitors who go less frequently don't realise is wrong, which is an additional burden.

Contact the police. They will usually ask the home to suspend those involved while they investigate. (This hits the home in the pocket as they have to pay the suspended staff and replace them on site, they act fact because of this).
Depending on the allegations the police will want to complete their investigations before they allow the home to even start theirs internal investigations.
Keep the CQC updated.
Directly contact the local authority safeguarding team.
Keep your emails and record phone calls if you can. You can talk on speaker phone while on one phone and record on a second mobile.
Contact Age Uk in your area - they are great for advice and support.
Get multiple copies of the footage and store in different places.