Hidden Cameras in Care Homes.

I think this has to handled with care and respect for the privacy and dignity of the resident, I really dont think I would be happy having my family watch me being washed and dressed should I ever have to get to that position. There is all this talk by so called experts about training, the costs of which will likely have to be borne by the care home owners, but nobody is talking about the elephant in the room; namely the fees paid by local authorities are insufficient to cover the costs of good care, it has been suggested that the families of those who are totally self funding are actually subsidising the costs of those residents who are local authority funded. I am not in any way suggesting that the cases we have seen of neglect and cruelty are solely because the carers are poorly paid and over worked, but lets be honest, it is a very hard job; emotionally and physically and is atrociously poorly paid. Everyone wants professional caring at professional rates but nobody wants to pay for it. I get many applicants for jobs at my company who have had to leave their jobs as carers because it was so hard physically and emotionally; they did care about the people they were looking after, but the pressure was great. Employers would pressure them to work overtime and they knew that if they didnt go in then some poor old soul would be left in bed all day. It is not black and white.

Low pay or not, there is NO excuse for cruelty. Rough handling, pinching, slapping, shouting. It's all unforgivable.

Interesting post Gill and agree with much of what you say.

merlot I was not at any point excusing cruel behaviour or neglect.

Gill - yes a good post.
I just want to add - I don't know if things are the same now, but I was visiting an old lady in a care home in the early 2000s and they had to resort to agency carers, because of shortage of staff.
These workers obviously cared, but were only there for a short time, and never had the chance to build up a kind trusting relationship with each person.

Intentionally cruel and sadistic behaviour is never acceptable, goes without saying, but Gill is right, we are getting what we as a society are willing to pay for.

It's the most difficult of jobs and minimum wage - you don't need the discovery of cruel staff to know that many homes are inadequate and provide the barest of care. I bet none of us would encourage our grandchildren to become a carer in an old peoples home.

All the CQC inspections, rules & regulations, cameras, exposing scandals etc won't improve things - we've had those in one guise or another for decades.

It takes money and the political will to effect serious change.

Care of the elderly needs to be recognised as a profession with qualifications (and paid accordingly). Unannounced inspections should be carried out and I also think a network of volunteer visitors should be set up (along the lines of the hospital visitors that used to exist). These people could turn up at care homes at any time and there should be a named social worker they could contact in the event they find something that worried them and that social worker would have the power to inspect and, if necessary, bring in emergency staff.

I live alone and have no immediate family and my biggest fear is that I will one day find myself in one of these places with no-one to look out for me.

Good post sunseeker.

Used to work in care homes,so much bad practice going on especially with equipment like hoists etc, being an agency staff where I used to work in different homes I just couldn't believe there bad practises were carried out by permanent staff and nurses just to save time. We need more whistle blowers to speak out and report incidents like this but there either to frightened or just don't want there colleagues to lose there jobs.

For anyone who's interested.

Very interesting, crun but like most advice it glosses over the reality. The example of 'Mary' puts me in mind of those adverts for bath aids where the 'model' is clearly somebody who can get in and out unaided or the adverts for BUPA care homes showing sprightly pensioners feeding chickens etc.

If relatives are desperate enough to consider installing a hidden camera it's because their loved one is incapable of protecting themselves against abuse. They would probably be far too scared to give permission as the weight of responsibility would rest with them. As for being able to switch it on and off when the need arises.....Really?

As I mentioned in the OP I decided not to go down the hidden camera route because I was worried about repercussions. I had recorded evidence of abuse and the carer was disciplined (very lightly IMO) It didn't stop her from writing rude and sarcastic comments in the care notes though.

Yes, the wages are low but even if the hourly rate were raised would that guarantee that only genuine caring people would apply? No. It would just give spiteful and nasty people a bit more money in their pockets.

I agree so much with your last paragraph merlotgran. Better pay doesn't make for better carers. The very best carers in the home I was involved with were the boys and girls from the Phillipines. They had both respect and empathy, qualities sadly lacking in some of the staff employed locally. I believe that it is part of their culture to have great respect for the older generation and it certainly shone through. I have explained myself badly but I hope you get the gist of what I mean. Respect and empathy cannot be bought or taught.

merlot it was the bit about not recording indefinitely that struck me, as if an abuser is going to notify you in advance when to switch the recorder on!

The bit about avoiding public areas is a gift to abusers too, if they know where they can't be recorded.

When there were problems in the home my mother was in, we did not complain until we had moved her to another home, at her request, because she was worried about what would happen to her if she was still there.
Can't imagine her wanting cameras in.

Last week I was emailing someone on another forum who had succeeded in getting a complaint against the NHS upheld using recorded evidence.

I am surprised it is allowed. And is admissable. Glad it is though.

Crun that's an interesting link.

The CQC seem to be almost encouraging relatives to install cameras whilst wiping their hands of any responsibility for breaches of any law e.g. Data Protection.

If they were doing their job properly there would be no need to install surveillance cameras.

Relatives have to be pretty desperate to resort to such measures.

There was a patient on the radio last year (World Service Health Check 19.6.14, and Radio 4 Inside Health, 8.7.14) who had been struck off the list for asking his GP's permission to record the consultation.

"The fact that patients are now doing this covertly, knowing that they wouldn't be given permission, is just a signal that something's not right in medicine"

"We're very used to it when we control it, but when the patient controls it it's much more threatening"

Very sad in my view. This culture that undermines trust and implies negative traits in the caring professions.

But I think it has to be balanced with reality, TriciaF.
And very glad they are.

Unlike the rest of the NHS which seems to treat whistleblowers appalingly.

There were three whistleblowers on Radio 4 this morning, one care worker, the woman from GCHQ, and an A&E nurse from Mid Staffs. The last straw that made the nurse complain was a patient being sent home when there was something wrong with her, which is one of the things that has happened to me. They threatened her, locked her in cubicles, tried to frame her for making drug errors etc., until she was finally forced to leave.

It's interesting that whistleblowers in America get a share of the damages when the cases go to court.

I can't see that it will improve until caring for the elderly is viewed as a career choice with a proper path, training etc rather than a dead end job done by those who can't do anything else.

My mum was in the Dementia wing of a local Resdiential Home and I realised how much strain the staff are in these situations.

The pressure never stops. Years later I worked for a year in a Residental Home as a volunteer and again felt very sorry for the staff. The work 12 hour shifts for very little money. The work is often very heavy (wheelchairs, hoists etc.,)

It looks bad when elderly people just sit for hours, but the thing is I think they want to do that, remembering past times and just resting.

I remember asking an elderly lady if she wanted to take part in a music activity and she told me to off.

I replied "I guess that's a no" and we shared a few seconds of laughter.

Hidden Cameras? I'm not against them there are always unfortunately bullying staff although I never came across one.

I put the f word in star symbols but they didn't register.

One evening when I was working in a care home and several of the residents were being "challenging" in the sitting room, a visitor commented "I don't know what the staff here get paid but you're worth every penny." (The pay in that area wasn't the lowest, btw.)

What I have always thought, tho, is that the real heroes are people who care for someone, especially someone with dementia, at home. For them it is 24/7, whereas paid staff only have to cope for the length of their shift.