Degrading conditions in care homes/Covid

maddyone

I think it was the right decision that carers should be vaccinated against Covid and the wrong decision to abandon that principle. The same with medics too.

Why? It has been proven not to prevent transmission - most people won't get any benefit from it and the excess deaths in younger people, particularly men, are unexplained, but many have suddenly died to clots and heart issues, wonder what may have caused all that?

Are you anti vaccine madeinyorkshire?

I started my own little business as a mobile manicurist. Some of the people I attended were in care homes. The difference in the standards of care I witnessed was astounding.

In one care home I saw a man with a massive wound on his chest sitting in a chair with his shirt open and flies gathering in the wound and no one taking any action to help him.

In other care homes I was presented with a drink of coffee or a glass of water on a silver tray with a doily under it and the care of the residents was second to none.

In another care home I visited regularly the staff would disappear as soon as I started work on my client's nails. I would literally be left in charge of a lounge full of vulnerable people till the staff returned from having a fag or a coffee. It was scary.

Someone needs to ensure that these poor vulnerable elderly people are cared for properly, and the staff who care for them are properly trained and paid.

We are in the sad situation of having our 48 year old daughter in a nursing home in Exeter, this home has been the best one so far but still far from perfect. To anyone wondering she is there due to a brain injury due to lesions on her brain.

Please do not judge care homes by one article you read in the media, I work as a support worker in a lovely care home. I support residents with all forms of dementia. Each shift I work and see our residents smile shows our care home is a good place. We also care for the elderly and frail. Stop and think, there are care homes nationwade who CARE and give the best support possible,

He’s cleaner …better fed and is allowed to wake up and go to bed when he chooses .. they do pop their heads in his room around 10 pm to see if he needs help u dressing…or his hygiene cares. The room is very clean ….comfortable . When I’ve visited and they bring him his morning or afternoon cuppa /cake/ fruit snacks they are cheerful and very polite …and usually they don’t realise I’m there until they put his tea in front of him. I always get offered a cup of something to have with him. Lovely people.

Primrose53:

'It was a horrible, horrible time but completely new and a one off for everybody.'

That's no excuse whatsoever - it was obvious what would happen when hospital patients were shunted off into care homes. Just disgraceful and absolutely unforgiveable.

Hindsight is wonderful isn’t it?

Germanshepherdsmum, - foresight is wonderful too - and any idiot could see what was happening - most of it not even due to a lack of hospital beds. The elderly just aren't valued in our society - or by our government (so called).

The same old lame excuse is rolled out to 'explain' the chaos, the too little, too late shambles of a government response to the pandemic - not new or one off either, as we clearly witnessed what was happening in other countries. The horrendous UK death toll was directly due to government inaction - yet still they have support - incredible.

My lovely mum died in a nursing home 2 years I was blessed and privileged to be with her when she passed.
As regards the nursing home she was put in upon hospital discharge from a previous care home putting her in the attic rooms and letting her sleep in a chair I have nothing but disbelief and outrage at the way in which she was "cared for" , she was so badly dehydrated after five days of being in the attic when she got to the hospital they couldn't even get a vein to put up a drip on her.
The nursing home she was then sent to did not allow visiting because of Covid and lockdown. By the time 4 months later I was allowed to see her they brought her into the visitors room in a wheelchair with her head down and fast asleep. I cried and cried I told her how much I loved her, that I had bought her favourite cakes with me, but there was no response from mum at all. Why did they think it was ok to bring mum to see me in that state. I was heartbroken.
After a week they rang me to say she had fallen out of the wheelchair in the dining room but she was fine!!
Then they rang and said mum was close to the end and I could visit any time I wanted too, but it was too late by then mum didn't even open her eyes. I sat by her bed all day every day playing songs from opera's I knew she loved but there was no response at all.
Then a nasty carer as I was leaving one day shouted like a fish wife from the reception area quite away away I could not leave the room!!! Clearly I didn't get the message I was in their prison run by a seriously brain deficient, common care assistant!
I cried so much and the only qualified nurse on duty that day came to mums room to see if I was ok. Clearly I wasn't and said I needed to leave and the common loud mouthed carer had no right to bawl at me like a common fish wife and the nurse agreed and asked me not to leave but I was so distraught I knew I needed to go home for a couple of hours to pull myself together thanks to that carer.
After mum died a week later I did contact delivery CQC and they said they would contact the nursing home regarding mum falling out of her wheelchair but could not pursue the bully carer.
I only hope one day that carer gets her comeuppance, she is the type that should never work in a carer aspect to aggressive and a bully.
What good is the CQC clearly no good at all jobs for the boys and no service and that sums the their pitiful excuse for a governing body CRAP!

I would like to know what happened to the government’s plan to increase the funding of the care sector. Oh I forgot! It was dropped into the black hole of the NHS with seemingly little result considering the huge waiting lists, appalling cancer care etc. All will no doubt be blamed on Covid for about the next twenty years. We can comfort ourselves, however knowing that
there are many more ‘diversity managers’ and their like beavering away for our wellbeing!. It is an absolute national disgrace that care provision for the elderly has been so low on the priority list of so many governments for so long. Sadly I don’t see it it improving any time soon. Not the most glamorous vote catcher, is it?

Reading some of these posts I’m appalled at the conditions and treatment in some of these homes. We were lucky that we were able to ensure mum was in a lovely home. She was self funding, does that make a difference? It shouldn’t, but maybe it does. We did look at one home that was entirely unsuitable and really horrible and as we came out, my husband said to me, ‘You wouldn’t put a dog in there.’

About 30 years ago I took on a weekend job, cleaning at a local care home. It was beautifully situated, and the bedrooms were lovely, but the staff constantly complained that they hadn`t been paid for 2 months, and there was a very unsettled atmosphere in the place. It is in today`s news that it`s been put in special measures after inspection.

Hetty58

Primrose53:

'It was a horrible, horrible time but completely new and a one off for everybody.'

That's no excuse whatsoever - it was obvious what would happen when hospital patients were shunted off into care homes. Just disgraceful and absolutely unforgiveable.

Did you not read the bit I wrote about the Manager refusing to let any patients off the ambulances until her staff had checked them out? She has been a qualified nurse all her adult life but never encountered a pandemic do she did what she thought was sensible.

Not one resident caught covid but a few staff tested positive so had to stay off work until they tested negative.

If you think you’re the expert why didn’t you step forward as the pandemic broke and make yourself known to the WHO, SAGE, The Govt etc. I am sure you could have made all the difference! 🤣🤣

I just had to add my comment, during the pandemic my aunt was in a care home that in theory was strict regarding covid ie not one single visitor, even waving through a window was banned BUT and its a big but my aunt caught covid in there as did many other lots died so the staff and their lifestyle was to blame. They brought it in obviously.
Now my father is in a fantastic one which is more expensive than the health authority pay so his has to be topped up but I can see exactly where the money goes it is so well run with more than enough staff who attend to his every need day and night. I still dont ever want to go into a home though and hope i die before thats needed.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202306/medium-968352-follow-the-money.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202306/medium-475665-follow-the-money.jpg

maddyone

Are you anti vaccine madeinyorkshire?

I had my first 2, then realised that the Govt were deliberately inflating the death statistics and I smelled a rat - why would they need to do that? Fear and control? Then my friend lost her friend immediately after he had the vaccine, and I have heard now of countless more. Astra Zeneca was removed from the market because is unsafe, they are all Pfizer now, and I just don't trust it. In this day and age it always pays to follow the money.

I am not anti-vaccine, but I am anti this one, something that has been 'genetically modified' not a vaccine that gives you a small piece of whatever so that you build up immunity to that disease. This is too new in my opinion, can't have been tested fully - it usually takes decades to produce and test a new vaccine, this one came out far too quickly for my liking, and look at this Govts record, lie after lie after lie ....

Then we get Hancock's WhatsApp messages -

"WE frighten the pants of (sic) everyone with the new strain"

"Yep that's what will get proper bahavior (sic) change"

"When do we deploy the new variant"

In order to DEPLOY something, by definition, (bring into effective action) you have to have it, you cannot deploy something you do not have?

THAT is why I do not want any more of this vaccine, and I don't believe a word anymore of anything this Govt says. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like but too much of this does NOT add up. The Govt were prepared to go to court to prevent the Covid inquiry getting hold of Johnson's messages - why would they do that? Because there is something to hide? Hopefully Baroness Hallet will get to the bottom of it and those families of people that lost their lives will get some answers .....

Amalegra

I would like to know what happened to the government’s plan to increase the funding of the care sector. Oh I forgot! It was dropped into the black hole of the NHS with seemingly little result considering the huge waiting lists, appalling cancer care etc. All will no doubt be blamed on Covid for about the next twenty years. We can comfort ourselves, however knowing that
there are many more ‘diversity managers’ and their like beavering away for our wellbeing!. It is an absolute national disgrace that care provision for the elderly has been so low on the priority list of so many governments for so long. Sadly I don’t see it it improving any time soon. Not the most glamorous vote catcher, is it?

Sunak gave it £500m and within a fortnight, halved it!

The whole thing needs to be sorted from the bottom up. More efficient Social Care = more beds in hospital = A7E freed up = ambulances able to hand over to A&E staff = ambulances not queuing outside and attending more calls.

It's not rocket science is it?

Kathmaggie

It was a HUGE mistake to move care home residents back to their care home from hospital. I fully appreciate the hospital beds were needed so why weren’t they nursed in another facility ie the nightingale hospitals ( which were never really used ) and cared for there until they tested negative?

Sadly the Nightingale Hospitals were a complete waste of time!

What should have happened is that Covid patients went there leaving the hospitals to deal with what they normally do - we wouldn't have the waiting lists we have now - BUT they were built costing £millions and had NO staff to run them! Govt rubbish as per usual ....

*Hetty58

"The elderly just aren't valued in our society - or by our government (so called)."

Exactly, and that also goes for the disabled, & the mentally ill too .. they want rid of us and are trying very hard to do that, keeping us poor and without help. It's been the plan all along.

Thanks for explaining madeinyorkshire.
I have had all my vaccines, four to date. I was extremely ill and hospitalised with Covid before the vaccines were available, available to me anyway, and consequently I’m happy to keep on being vaccinated annually, or whatever is thought to be necessary. I have never had the Astra Zeneca vaccine, only ever had the Pfizer ones.

russams

Please do not judge care homes by one article you read in the media, I work as a support worker in a lovely care home. I support residents with all forms of dementia. Each shift I work and see our residents smile shows our care home is a good place. We also care for the elderly and frail. Stop and think, there are care homes nationwade who CARE and give the best support possible,

I could have written this. I have worked in a high dementia care home for nearly 5 years now.
We too had residents coming back from hospital with Covid. Absolutely devastating for everybody.
I’m pretty sure I would have had the vaccine anyway BUT if staff refused they lost their job and what really annoys me is the fact that they then said nurses did not to have to have the vaccine so as usual Care staff put to the bottom of the pile, not thought of at all.
The majority of our staff now are Indian because the English just don’t want to work for the minimum wage that is paid. They are good caring people but the language particularly accents are not good for residents who just can’t understand them. What can we do with English don’t want the job? ☹️🤷‍♀️
Matt Hancock should be jailed..

*Shinamae - I agree, 'we' or the majority of 'we' will not do it when there are better paying jobs in Tesco or Aldi etc and even then people doing those jobs will be renting the roof over their heads forever, poor pensions so what will happen when our young with poor paying jobs get to retirement? If they ever do, as they won't be able to afford to stop work, or the pension age will have to be raised so high many will die before reaching pension age. I'm scared for my daughter and my granddaughters, what chance will they have in the future?

Most of my carers aren't English, but I haven't found one that isn't caring. All can speak English well enough, a lot are east European. They get zero hours contracts, therefore no holiday sick pay etc and aren't offered any pension scheme. The company has drivers for those that can't drive and they take 20% off the carers who use them to pay the drivers! I really couldn't believe that one! Those that do drive get 25p a mile. When I last worked in 2010, I got 45p a mile! Poor lasses don't have a chance in hell ....

Kathmaggie

It was a HUGE mistake to move care home residents back to their care home from hospital. I fully appreciate the hospital beds were needed so why weren’t they nursed in another facility ie the nightingale hospitals ( which were never really used ) and cared for there until they tested negative?

I recall Hancock as claiming he had thrown a protective ring around care homes.

Cossy

My dear sweet MIL had to into a care home in Sept 2020 due to advanced dementia The staff were all as caring as possible, phoned my husband weekly and he was “allowed” “window” visits - it was awful for her as she had no idea what was happening but she’s still there and well looked after and my husband visits her three or four times a week and she’s well fed, spotlessly clean and as healthy as she can be - not all care homes are “bad”

Exactly.
All I can say is that ‘my’ care home, was and is wonderful, with a caring workforce who do their absolute best for the residents.It was a rotten time all round for everybody, including care homes and hospitals and private houses.

MaidInYorkshire
If your daughter intends to sell the house some funeral directors will allow a deferred payment.