Rape and sexual assault in hospitals.

Well seeing as how violetsky has again dragged trans into the discussion, maybe this is worth looking at
She didn't (see my post above) and I can' t see the specific relevance of the examples you give, to this thread in this context

Ilovecheese

Why on earth are trans people being brought into this by Violetsky ?

Because the fact the professor who wrote the report is a gender critical feminist was mentioned by the OP upthread. VS was then asked if she was suggesting that the report should be ignored because the author is gender critical.

So VS is responding to those posts. She did not originally bring trans issues into the thread. Hopefully it can stay on track regarding the awful events in hospitals now!

Are there drugs that are more suitable than a chemical cosh on the horizon I wonder, if more and more people are going to suffer from dementia, more people are going to be at risk of sexual assault in hospital, and surely also nursing home settings.
Money spent now on research would be well spent to avoid future, more expensive, problems. No Government ever seems to look to the future in that way.

I don't know if their are figures for how many assaults are caused by dementia patients though, was that information gathered? Or should more hospital security be the focus?

sodapop

Not sure the chemical cosh is the answer, maybe we should bring back the nursing assistant role which was so valuable in bedside nursing.

There are still healthcare assistants (not sure if that is their title) they do all the caring. The problem is they have many responsibilities. It can also be very difficult to handle patients with dementia, and some specialist training might be useful

Not sure the chemical cosh is the answer, maybe we should bring back the nursing assistant role which was so valuable in bedside nursing.

Such an awful situation. On the one hand we would all want to keep dentin patients as safe, happy, dignified comformable as possible but on the other hand, they can be a risk to themselves and others

Medication would be a possible solution I suppose, maybe something calming but people tolerate medication so differently

It’s a really difficult area. Fifty years ago complex dementia patients were grouped together on locked wards in psychiatric hospitals, and once admitted they never left - a dreadful existence for them and the staff who did their best to care for them. My experience as a trainee on those wards haunts me still. Now, they are looked after in the community whenever possible, or are admitted to a general hospital bed, or if they are really fortunate to a dementia assessment bed (as rare as hens teeth) but when their behaviour becomes challenging they are admitted to a care home, where often the experience is not much better than it would have been on those wards fifty years ago.
A miracle drug would be amazing, but in the meantime there are no easy answers.

I suppose what is really needed is a determined effort to discover drugs to combat dementia and particularly violent dementia. It's not a very glamorous subject for research though.
I am not sure about more secure units as that might mask the problem and reduce the appetite for more research.

Ilovecheese

People who are drunk or drugged can be removed from the wards, but dementia patients are staying on the wards.

That is definitely true. Many dementia patients are sexually disinhibited and/or have other very challenging behaviour,, and added to their physical illness and the confusion of being away from familiar surroundings they require 1-1 care, which is not always available, particularly on wards where there are a number of patients with similar issues.
Nursing home beds are in short supply, as are mental health specialist nurses on general and community wards, which leaves very challenging conditions on wards.

There are secure units which are specifically for people with dementia who are showing violent tendencies. Unfortunately there are very few of them and they only cater for people who do not need medical care.

The orthopaedic ward my mother was in was a secure ward with keypad entry. Some of the patients had dementia, many were disorientated, some were mobile and wandered, others were static, but cried and shouted incessantly. It puts an extra strain on the nurses.

I missed your post witzend I suppose that is the best solution but once again, very expensive.

Trouble with dementia patients though, it's not their fault really. Punishment doesn't seem appropriate, heavy sedation also seems rather unkind so what might help?

During my recent hospital stay I was moved several times between wards, and in two of them there were patients with dementia. They were women only wards, but I know that ‘inappropriate’ behaviour is not uncommonly a feature of dementia - probably in men more than women.

On the wards I was in, there was a one to one attendant - usually a HCA - with the person day and night. Presumably it was the same for any men with dementia. I felt so sorry for the staff, having to cope with this - as if they don’t have enough to do.

Not as serious as some of the incidents already mentioned, but when DH was in hospital earlier this year, another patient with dementia tried to get into bed with him. Fortunately there were plenty of staff around, but they said he should not be in hospital as it wasn’t safe, for him, or for other patients, or for the staff, but it seems there was nowhere else to send him, given his heart condition.

But doesn't moving someone with dementia to a nursing home just move the problem?

The lengths perpetrators will go too are staggering, not just their employments but their whole lifestyle, personality and even opinions to enter relationships close to vulnerable people and children

Gloryanny I’m certain you’re right and sex offenders are employed in hospitals. They’re clever at finding employment or volunteering in places where vulnerable children and adults are readily available

My neighbour was attacked in hospital by an elderly woman with dementia. It wasn't the first time that it had happened, the nursing staff knew that she was violent but they had nowhere to send her to until social services had found her a place in a nursing home. Terrible ordeal for my neighbour.

MerylStreep

Granydarkhair
I think some posters might have a problem with the opinions of Professor Jo Phoenix because she’s a gender critical feminist.

Actually nannageorge

I'm not the one who brought "gender critical" to the chat

And I then went on to answer another question put to me by Iam who clearly knew the answer already

I didn't bring up the plight of nurses either

It's your choice to use the thread to further a trans agenda not mine but it does showcase why gender critical feminists frustrate me. You would change the course of the whole thread to be about trans people when it is actually a much larger issue.

So there we go sadly

People who are drunk or drugged can be removed from the wards, but dementia patients are staying on the wards.

I imagine that dementia is a much greater problem though.

Well seeing as how violetsky has again dragged trans into the discussion, maybe this is worth looking at

A patient who was raped by a transgender woman on a hospital ward could not have been raped because her attacker is defined as a woman, heard the House of Lords.

Police were told by hospital staff that the reported incident was not true, telling officers: "There was no male in the hospital, therefore the rape could not have happened."

During a debate on single-sex hospital wards, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, a Conservative Life peer shared the story which left the victim on "the edge of a nervous breakdown."

The hospital was able "to tell a straightforward lie" she said. Adding that only a year after the reported assault took place, and after CCTV and witness statements were taken, were the hospital willing to admit to the incident.

Lady Baroness said: "[The hospital] forgot that there was CCTV, nurses and observers.
"Nonetheless, it has taken nearly a year for the hospital to agree that there was a male on the ward and, yes, this rape happened. During that year [the woman] has almost come to the edge of a nervous breakdown, because being disbelieved about being raped in hospital has been such an appalling shock.

"The hospital, with all its CCTV, has had to admit that the rape happened and that it was committed by a man.

The alleged attack, at an undisclosed hospital, is a situation that has been warned of by campaigners who seek to protect single-sex places.

Not really when a hospital doesn't have enough security in general

VioletSky

Nursing staff being put in danger is another serious issue glorianny

Especially at certain times of the evening when people who have injured themselves under the influence are coming in

The A&E problems are very different to those on a ward.

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/hospital-says-patient-could-not-26506744