Care homes and safe guarding women- what am I missing

[Appleofmyeye2023]

I am in a state of shock and alarm frankly. I want to question something with a care home, but don’t want to piss staff /management off, and just wondered if someone knew anything about why/how this sort of thing can be allowed to happen …as follows

My dad is in late 80’s and is diagnosed recently with mixed dementia. He was sectioned for a good while, and then thanks to a fab acute dementia unit was able to be discharged into a care home.

his type of dementia (Lewy bodies), leads to a lot of issue with REM sleep disturbance, hallucinations, paranoia and he’s also registered blind.

he was fine for around a month, seemed to be having a really good period, got a lot of old dad back, but he’s now back to REM sleep issues and hallucinations

hes coming out his room at night and wandering, but he’s wandering into residents bedrooms. Most of them are women. Old, frail and with dementia or other issues. He’s been telling them they’ve all got to move out of home (don’t ask it’s part of his regular repeated delusions 🙄🥴) but is trying to move them out of bed etc. I’m aware he’s touched some of these women …but not in sexual way.

but his inhibition are varying. He does have morbid jealous type thoughts re partner (not helped thst they aren’t, obviously living with each other now) and I’m really concerned nereid in his confusion, he’ll sexual molest these women thinking they’re his partner.

he could walk in on a women using bathroom, naked or in a vulnerable state !

and I’m thinking..god in heaven how on earth can this be allowed to happen to these poor women (or men for that matter). Where is the safe guarding? Thst could be me in 25 years! I’m so alarmed at this, and frustrate beyond belief. Why aren’t there magnetic activated locks on doors to stop residents wandering but allow carer to enter easily, and residents to get out whenever? It’s not an issue with him wandering, but the issue he can wander into other women’s rooms and their beds!

Right now they’ve moved him out of his lovely room, stuck him in a dingy room in a closed ward, and have supervision on more. But I’ve been now informed he can still enter others rooms, it’s just there’s more staff at night to intervene to stop bad things happening.

is this the best they can do? Is this standard? Is there a reason other than cost saving for this? How many confused, frail mental incapacitated women are being manhandled, distressed, touched or worse by random men entering their rooms.

im so mad at my dad. Read him the riot act, but he doesn’t understand (I didn’t shout btw). I’m afraid he’ll end up being kicked out of the home and end up back in a really shitty ward in mental hospital again. And it all seems down to lack of Will to prevent it happening in first place

anyone help me with understanding this, or experiences on this

not sure of board- but seems like it’s lack of duty of care for women, like mixed sexed wards and the issues this poses

It's a social services thing, but the safeguarding team probably wouldn't be involved at this stage and a call to them would probably be redirected for you to speak to whoever placed him there to discuss an urgent review.

The care home should have already flagged him up as needing a review anyway if he is causing distress to others.

Because it would hugely increase the number of residents who couldn't operate their own doors. Most can work a handle, far fewer can work a lock - especially as swipecard lock. And they'd keep losing the cards.

Ah, fair enough. I understood 'paying the full care cost' to include costs for.l dealing with higher needs, but it sounds as if that's not so.

We have door alarms that all staff can hear when certain clients leave their rooms.
The doors are not locked. We can switch the alarm off from outside when we need to go in and check our people. It's just that they can't get out without all the staff being alerted. We carry small audible clip on pagers around with us.

CHC is the continuing healthcare assessment, I think.

That's....unusual

Was going to reply similarly. My ancient parents don't have diagnosed dementia but - since they started having TIAs - have lost capacity to hold 'new' ideas in mind, and are also mislaying their keys & wallets all the time. They can't reliably work anything that didn't exist in their prime of life, despite having been fully computer literate before this started.

Patients with more pervasive brain damage would presumably have even greater difficulty (and theirs is very limiting).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care-public-information-leaflet/public-information-leaflet-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care--2

Ok…
m picking up,that they keep very low staff numbers in part of home he was on overnight, so that limited staff to get to him and prevent safety issues.
the unit they’ve moved him to, seems no real difference accept higher staff ratio and crappier more basic environment . They’re saying they still can’t stop him wandering but will be able to get to him in a women’s room before safety issue
justdoesnot seem right

im off to Switzerland before I get to that.. how can they let this happen. It seems attitude is “ well that’s the illness and it’ll happen “. It’s scary

I can’t offer any more advice than has been offered here but wanted to say my Dad had Lewy Bodies and passed away in 2020. It truly is a terrifying form of dementia and my heart goes out to you and your Dad. It is heartbreaking. I hope you can find a solution to your concerns.

Ok, my push back..in hotel to get out you still just push handle down..there’s not a lock you operate..
sorry stayed in lots of hotels with work travel.🙄🥴. I’m thinking ones where you have a pad outside you wave your lanyard against, then handle as normal to pin, then normal handle on nside that gives a little clunk as push down?

Unfortunately it's a huge thing in a care home and a nursing home all round and there just isn't the funding for the care needed.

One resident in my grandads care home used to take everyone's things and enter there rooms as she wished and move them around, thinking they were her families belongings. She'd also take the tea trolley (complete with boiling urn) for a wander when the carer was giving someone a drink in their room or the laundry cart or the medicine trolley (the first and last ones really worried me but nothing was ever done about it). She and my grandfather even had a "scrap" about it (nothing much happened thankfully, he couldn't stand up or walk)

Grandad also ended up hospitalised by an assault from another resident who wandered into his room after getting lost on his way back to the loo who thought my grandad was an intruder. It was only luck that a carer was near after it had been going on for a couple of minutes!) as it was 2am and pitch black and grandad was being beaten by an angry old man with his fists and walking stick!

I realise the above isn't women only, however our solution might help or be an idea. We ended up having to call in safe guarding ourselves as things with that care home were horrendous and it had all gone down hill after the manager started. (said manager isn't allowed to work in care now after a lot of things were discovered through the safe guarding interviews....)

Unfortunately I can't tell you if it changed anything in the long run as he passed away less than 6 months after that.

Thank you. It’s fucking 😳awful..he’s so aware of his predicament 🥹. But I’m just so frustrated he’s effectively shit himself in the foot, and quite rightly. I’m hoping he’ll loose the realisation of what’s happening as soon as possible sadly.

They still need a key to get back in, though.

Think about how many times you walk through your living room door during the course of a day. You would need several members of staff on full time door duty.

Frankly, I’d rather be dead than in the situation these women are in. A PP said unlocked doors are the norm, another said assaults are common, and to me it’s not good enough that the staff are “doing their best” to stop men going into women’s rooms and assaulting them, potentially very seriously. I read of a case where a man seriously sexually assaulted another patient, apparently believing she was his wife. We shouldn’t be accepting this as inevitable. We go to great lengths in workplaces to prevent even the mildest inappropriate behaviour, and then when people become old and extremely vulnerable they are put in this kind of danger. And it isn’t just other patients who are a risk, there have been assaults by staff too.

Having been a victim of rape, the idea of being put at risk of this if I were physically helpless sickens me so badly, I would honestly prefer assisted suicide to going into a care home. If a strange man wandered into my room even with no intent to touch me, I’d be hysterical. And I’d probably be told not to be silly.

This is soooo depressing and alarming…
money and profit driven
there are solutions to keep everyone safe - it’s the will and funding
how did we end up here to move care of these people from state run homes to private profit driven enterprises…

"have a pad outside you wave your lanyard against" - That's the problem with this idea, sorry. Pad? Wave lanyard??

Security measures need to be passive: to work with zero input from client. This is the sort of area where tech excels, as illustrated by some PPs.

In theory, your suggestion could work by affixing the magnetic cards to the patients, so their doors magically opened as they approached. As we know, magnetic cards aren't as good as all that in real life.

PIR sensors, however, are.

This is the exactly how I’m feeling. How is itacceptd. I’m so angry

Ok, maybe I mean PIR sensors….but they’ll be solutions if there was funding and a will not to accept this as norm.

As opposed to full time duty stopping my dad going into women’s rooms?
I know where I’d prefer my dad to wander for 30 mins, corridor or in others rooms! There are loos and lounges in corridors - does it matter really, in interest of safety if he’s locked out for a bit till they finally get to him.

Hmm, not sure it is.
bear in mind he’s no longer in nhs “ mental health” ward. He’s in a private care home with fancy dinners, entertainment ( even if he’s not joining in) and larger room with his own things - or was till he’s now been shunted to his other part where it’s back to really basic rooms

In my mind the care staff need to comfort and distract when they wake but I understand it's not that straightforward.

This would be the ideal. The reality is that most care homes are like the Mary Celeste from early evening onwards. The care home I volunteer at is often like that during the day as well. Comfort and distraction is what I try and do with 4 residents, one afternoon a week. Staff doing that during the night? No chance.

Easy DIY kit:

Get 2 or 3 sensors (£17 each), stick them at appropriate limits from his room.
Get 1 hub (£15)
Install Tapo app on your phone and a staff member's - or get a new phone, stick it on permanent charge on a wall that's convenient for staff.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Tapo-Sensitivity-Installation-T100/dp/B0BC271ZWH

Setup will probably take you an hour or so. You'll need to make the sensors active only during his wandering hours. Set the chime to make a suitable alarm noise, again during the required hours only. You do all this through the app, which actually does have all the settings though it looks strange the first time you use it.

A savvy staff member can alter the settings via the app if the need increases/decreases, etc.

Sensor info: https://www.tapo.com/uk/product/smart-sensor/tapo-t100/#tapo-product-setup

As a standard safeguarding to protect this resident from hurting other residents, an alarm type mat/system should be placed next to his bed or just outside his door. Have also seen door alarms in place, so as soon as these are activated, a carer should be able to support him either back to bed or somewhere else so he isn't going into others rooms.
A DOLS is likely to be in place for this.
If they don't have that equipment, a carer should sit outside his door to protect both him and other residents.

does it matter really, in interest of safety if he’s locked out for a bit till they finally get to him.

You're not getting it.

It's not that him being locked out for a little while is a problem.

It's all the other residents getting locked out of their rooms 10 or 20 times a day.

A sensor on a single door, or 1 staff member shadowing your dad from 7 pm to 7 am, are far more reasonable solutions than 8 members of staff running around doing nothing but open doors and find lost cards 24 hours a day.