Older people
News stories relating to older people
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Extracts from BBC News article, 09.01.12
Evidence of neglect and abuse at a private nursing home in Essex has been uncovered by a BBC investigation.
In August 2011 Partridge Care Centre, in Harlow, was at the centre of a police inquiry after three people were taken to hospital with "diabetes related problems".
Two women in their 80s died, although Essex Police dropped the investigation saying there was no evidence of "any relevant criminal offences".
The home's owner Rushcliffe Care Limited acknowledged there had been problems in the past, but claimed it had taken steps to make sure residents' "health and well-being are paramount".
But documents seen by BBC Essex show there were serious problems at the home before the police investigation.
Partridge Care Centre is a residential nursing home specialising in looking after people with...
1 year 14 weeks agoExtracts from the Summary of Age UK 'Care in Crisis 2012' report:
• There is serious underspend on older people’s social care.
• Councils have cut back on their service provision.
• Many older people miss out altogether, remaining outside of the state care system.
• The financial demands on older people who receive care are increasing.
• Funding for frontline services has not been protected.
• Additional money from the NHS has not filled the gap.
• Taking into account growing demand as well the gap is even greater.• Just to maintain the status quo a steady increase in funding will be needed.
• Provision should be extended to support people who fund their own care.
• Meeting moderate needs also needs to be factored in to the overall sums for reform.Access the Age UK's full report, 'Care in Crisis 2012' by ...
1 year 14 weeks agoElderly patients are being condemned to an early death by hospitals making secret use of "do not resuscitate" orders, an investigation has found.
Taken from Telegraph article 07.02.12:
The orders – which record an advance decision that a patient's life should not be saved if their heart stops – are routinely being applied without the knowledge of the patient or their relatives.
On one ward, one-third of DNR orders were issued without consultation with the patient or their family, according to the NHS's own records. At another hospital, junior doctors freely admitted that the forms were filled out by medical teams without the involvement of patients or relatives.
Under...
1 year 14 weeks agoExtracts taken from Walesonline.co.uk article, 23.01.12
The scale of abuse against elderly people across Wales has been revealed in figures showing more than 1,000 complaints against carers have been upheld in the last three years.
Despite the number of proven allegations of financial, physical and emotional abuse, only a small percentage of the carers involved have lost their jobs.
In several Welsh councils, fewer than 10% of upheld complaints led to the carers involved losing their jobs. Neglect was the most frequent complaint made by vulnerable adult service users across Wales – with 240 incidents reported to Cardiff council alone since 2008-09.There were also allegations of sexual abuse at three Welsh councils, Wrexham, Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan.
At Denbighshire council, one...
1 year 16 weeks agoFAMILIES and widows of patients who were allegedly subjected to “appalling and humiliating” care are launching legal action against a Midland hospital trust.
A group action is to be launched by at least ten families and widows of mainly elderly patients treated at Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital claiming human rights were contravened.
Human rights lawyer Emma Jones, of law firm Leigh Day & Co, said the move was prompted by serious complaints against bosses of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
Stories have emerged of medical staff allegedly putting “do not resuscitate” into records without relatives’ consent.
Miss Jones, who is the former head of legal for national mental health charity Mind, said the claims were not limited to the elderly but to other patients, especially the most vulnerable.
“A common theme with these cases is patients left dehydrated, food left out of their reach, not enough...
1 year 25 weeks agoUrgent action should be taken to protect the human rights of people with dementia in care homes
About 65,000 people in Scotland have dementia and about 40% are in care homes or hospitals.
The Care Commission and Mental Welfare Commission visited a sample of homes between August and March and detailed their findings in a report, Remember I'm Still Me.
It said before the patients were admitted most had already had a good medical assessment, with input from GPs and dieticians.
But after admission, the report said very few had annual GP health checks and there was little evidence that medication was regularly reviewed.
The organisations expressed concern that medication was being misused, with some residents on a cocktail of antipsychotics, and some being prescribed drugs known to be dangerous.
In nine homes, the watchdogs said medication was being...
1 year 31 weeks agoDignified care is lacking at 40% of hospitals
Nearly half of hospitals are failing to provide good nutrition to elderly patients while 40% do not offer dignified care, figures from unannounced inspections show.
Of 100 hospital inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), 49 gave rise to minor, moderate or major concerns about problems with nutritional standards for elderly people.
In two hospitals – Alexandra hospital in Worcester and Sandwell general hospital in the West Midlands – inspectors had major concerns about the way people were fed and given drinks.
Another 15 hospitals had moderate problems and a further 32 were listed with minor problems.
There were also moderate concerns about the dignity and respect provided to patients in 12 hospitals, while there were minor concerns about another 28 hospitals.
1 year 31 weeks agoDementia patients let down despite promises
...a major study has found that the experts making [decisions about deprivation of liberty] cannot agree which kinds of cases require such legal protection.
The research, by the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, asked 26 mental health professionals and eminent lawyers to assess 12 real-life cases, in which restrictions had been placed on people suffering from dementia and brain impairment, and to judge whether the legal process should have been followed...
The study, published in The Psychiatrist, found that in all but one case, the group of experts were unable to agree whether the acts amounted to a deprivation of liberty such that legal safeguards were required.
Dr Ruth Cairns, the study's lead researcher, said the legislation on the safeguards needed to...
1 year 32 weeks ago
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