I think it was Reynolds who started calling Care Homes “Don’t Care Homes” or “Couldn’t Care Less Homes”. I, too, have had a few run ins with less-than-caring staff in these places, but this one really took the biscuit.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“This is the Blackbird Care Home, we need an ambulance,” said the woman, not answering my question.
“And what’s the problem?” I asked again.
“A lady has had a fall,” she told me.
“What’s your address?” I asked. After a protracted struggle to get the address out of her, where she repeatedly gives the name of the care home, the phone number, the fact that it is in London, the fact that they are a residential care home for the elderly… anything but the address, we move on to the standard questions. This sounds like a pretty routine call: elderly people fall over all the time, most are uninjured and just need picking up and checking over.
“Are you with her now?” I asked.
“No,” said the woman. “She’s out on the roof. She fell out the window.” She said this in the manner that one would say “My washing machine is broken” or “It was raining yesterday.”
“!!!” I said. Don’t ask me how that is pronounced. I’d just spent several minutes trying to get the woman to confirm her address, valuable time during which we could be sending HEMS, ambulances and the Fire Brigade, and all the time the patient has been lying on a rooftop. Eventually, painstakingly, with her managing to provide an irrelevant answer to each question (eg. “How far did she fall? From the window to the roof. What caused the fall? She had breakfast this morning.”) I managed to extract the information that she’d fallen approximately one storey, and that she was only partly visible, so no-one could see how badly injured she was, but she wasn’t moving. All along, the woman expressed no indication that this might be a problem, or any kind of concern in her voice. I did say that I don’t like callers to panic, but this was taking it to the opposite extreme!
“How are we going to get to her?” I asked finally. The ambulance was almost there by now. “Is there a way out to the roof, or do we need to get to the fire brigade?”
The dispatch desk had actually already called the fire brigade, having got bored waiting for me to extract information from this incredibly obstructive individual.
“Okay,” she said, yawning.
“That was a question!” I said. “Can we get to the roof safely, or do we need the fire brigade?”
“Okay,” she said again. I gave up at this point and was about to hang up.
“Oh,” she said as an afterthought. “We have a ladder. Should someone go up and see her?”
“That might be a good idea,” I said. Had this brainwave not occurred to anyone before?
As soon as I’d hung up, the Sector Controller from the dispatch desk rang me, full of incredulation at the woman’s nonchalant attitude and speculated that it might be a hoax — perhaps one of the other elderly patients had got bored and decided to liven up their day with some blue lights and sirens?
It wasn’t a hoax. The patient was dead.
I have added the name of that Care Home to the growing list of “Places Not To Send My Mother To When She Gets Old”.
March 6th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Shocking, and I guess one of teh most shocking things is that this kind of story isnt uncommon. Every few weeks there seems to be a story of a similar tilt.
By definition you would think a care home would care for residents!
March 6th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Disgusting.
March 6th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Yeah, I was thinking that maybe the reason the woman didn’t seem that bothered was because residents fall out of their windows a lot…
March 6th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
That is an absolutely disgusting thing to hear. It’s a shame that so many care homes now seem to take the half-arsed attitude that we see here. Shouldn’t it be obvious that if there is a fall risk that an old dear can negotiate, it needs to be sorted.
Absolutely appauling…
March 6th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
That’s ourageous - can you name the care home?
March 6th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Are care homes inspected by someone? If they are inspected, why can’t the inspectors occasionally wait at an ambulance station and tag along when an ambulance is dispatched to a care home? I’m sure that the ambulance service personnel see much worse treatment of care home ‘guests’ than any inspection service does…
March 6th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
I’d like to, but it’s against data protection and wotnot and I don’t want to get in trouble.
Although this is the worst thing I have ever heard from a care home, there have been plenty of other bad things, and I would never put a relative in one. I’m sure they can’t all be bad but it’s not a chance I am prepared to take.
March 6th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
I think it would be confidential.
March 6th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
Do you not have any way of reporting such things? In France there is a crime called “non-assistance à personne en danger” (non assistance to somebody in a dangerous situation), which woulld fit the ticket!
They should call in my Grandmother - she decided to go to a care home ( refused to become dependent on her family, although we would willingly have looked after her! ), and ended up retraining the whole staff. But then, she’s a bit like that
March 6th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
I had a situation alot like yours, thankfully the patient “only” had a broken leg and hypothermia after being left out side the window all night. (A security guard found him, not one of the “care givers”) This was in a care home for the indigent in San Francisco. Technically, it was a “hospital” but that was only because they employed some of the worst doctors ever thrown out of medical school.
March 6th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Speechless. Just speechless. (You can see how little I know about this subject by how I’m shocked to the core.) Jeeeee-sus.
March 6th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
From my not inconsiderable experience of the English Care Home, I am genuinely at a loss as to why more of the residents don’t chuck themselves out the window.
P.S. “Incredulation” - nice one.
March 6th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Do you not have any way of reporting such things?
The police were called (as they would be with any unnatural death) — I hope they did something about it!
March 6th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
I read a while ago that apparently a cabin on a cruise liner is cheaper by the day than a bed in a care home.
I know which one I’d choose if I was elderly.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
some of the ‘care’ homes in my area are shocking, one of them has just had six staff suspended pending enquiries into alleged assaults on residents, this is the same home that me and my crewmate have reported to the police and social services for neglect (like failure to spot a dead resident and calling for ‘difficulty in breathing’!!)
I really hope my parents are able to live independantly when they are older, or its a jail term for me………… (joke btw)
March 6th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Maybe the patient didn’t fall out of the window.
Maybe she jumped.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Maybe she jumped.
Can’t blame her if she did…
March 6th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
The call recordings should be released on the Internets. The level of care at that facility should be a matter of public concern.
I’m in the States and even I want to know where that place is so I can be sure not to send anyone.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Hi Mark
I’ve been to a similar call where an old man climbed out on the roof of his care home. He somehow managed to get into the attic and out through a skylight. The staff didn’t miss him for hours and he was quite happy until it started to get cold.
The staff soon found out where he was, when the slates started raining down onto the car park.
We eventually managed to get him back in and a report was submitted to the local social services about the incident and the general state of the home. It took a while, about 18 months, but that along with other complaints led to the place being shut down and the owners prosecuted.
There are some decent care homes, but when you bear in mind that most of them are privately owned and are only in it for the money, you can see why they cut corners.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
You often recount things that are frightening to read, but this took my breath away.
I’d like to, but it’s against data protection and wotnot
The DPA doesn’t apply to organisations, only to individuals; I used to have some responsibility for quite a large database of personal information, and I am absolutely certain about that point. And it isn’t defamation, because it’s (prove-ably) true. However, I guess you’d want to be sure you weren’t breaching any professional code of practice.
If you are feeling brave, you could write a letter to the local paper. I’m sure they would love it. Although I suppose the lady’s family’s feelings ought also to be considered as well.
March 6th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Oh, in that case, the name of the home was… no, sorry, I really would like to name it, because I’m not sure how my employers would react to me going down the naming-and-shaming route. Selfish job preservation and all that.
I hate to think what the lady’s family will think if they read this (and I imagine they would know it was her from the description of events). On one hand, they deserve to know how callous the home were towards her, on the other hand, there’s nothing they can do now and maybe ignorance is bliss…
March 6th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Surely these couldn’t-care-less homes are accountable to *someone*?
you guys tape all calls, right? Be nice if a copy landed in the lap of someone from the National Care Standards Commission (or whoever has the clout).
March 6th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
The most shocking part is that no-one will ever be held accountable. Next week someone could fall down the stairs and the same process would repeat.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
For all you guys who think this stuff should be made public. It is, the care standards reports are avaliable on-line. So, if there is something going down… we’ll know soon.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
?!??!!!!!!?!?!! WTF? I am utterly speechless.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Remember hearing a story about a care-home resident who went out the window (many moons ago) whose body was moved on orders of the person in charge before the Police got there - because it made the front of the building “look untidy”.
March 7th, 2006 at 12:20 am
Nursing homes (care homes) here in Canada are not much better. I do patient transfers and often take people back to these wonderful places. Last night I transfered a woman who was sent in with dermatitis to the Emerg (by ambulance no less).
Last time I checked, dermatitis was not an emergency requiring an ambulance and subjecting some poor soul to 8 or 9 hours laying in a bed waiting to be checked by an overworked doctor.
The capper of this is that these homes have RNs and RPNs who, last time I checked, should know better.
Its sheer laziness, that is all.
March 7th, 2006 at 12:25 am
[...] Caring Goes Out The Window [...]
March 7th, 2006 at 12:30 am
Ummmmm.
Still in shock from reading this. I suspect the nurse in charge of the shift may be responsible if it can be shown basic precutions and risks assessments were not followed ?
All the windows at our home have special safety catches. The only way for a client to go out the window would be to take a running jump.
Mental
March 7th, 2006 at 1:27 am
here we have “extendicare” homes. here we call them “extend-a-death”, meaning they are places to prolong the inevitable. but, sometimes the opposite occurs and these poor old folks are expedited toward an early end… had a fall, bah! that had VSA written all over it;)
March 7th, 2006 at 3:15 am
But euthanasia is not “humane.” We treat our sick cats and dogs better.
The insane, the terminally lazy, the drug addicted and hoplessly stupid are taking care of the unwanted and unloved. A society may be justly judged by the care shown the weakest members.
March 7th, 2006 at 7:30 am
Mark,
We run into this uncaring attitude all the time. Fortunately, I’ve not had the degree of disgusting behaviour you did, and no roofs involved. I’m constantly amazed by the low standard of caregivers provided by what we call in the USA “rest homes”. It would seem the woman you were talking to was attempting to slip out of any blame in the incident by avoiding your questions, something I run into very frequently in these circumstances. Do you have any contacts in the media you can tell about this anonomously?
March 7th, 2006 at 9:05 am
Some places are just dispicable!
Had a call the other night from a rest home who had a man “drifting in and out of conciousness for past 5 hours. But cant wake him now, he is breathing though.” Once the crew arrived they found him very dead in bed!
What trainning do these people recieve?!
March 7th, 2006 at 10:02 am
According to the NMC guidelines as Registered nurses we have a 24hr duty of care - even when we’re off-duty. Failure to assist a person when it can be shown that you were present and able to help can lead to a nurse being disciplined by the NMC and even struck off the register. Surely the trained nurse in charge of the home should be made accountable?
I’m hope the police etc don’t just leave this as a ‘little accident’.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:05 am
While I’m generally in favour of employing the mentally challenged, I do draw the line at putting them in positions of responsibility.
And that woman? Should be nowhere near a responsible position. My God, I thought the ‘no care, no responsibility’ attitude in my last workplace was bad, but at least that was only sorting mail!
March 7th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I’m sitting in the corner with the duvet over my head. As one of the ‘My Generation’ generation, I think The Who had a point
March 7th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
a friend of mine had to leave the care home profession, due to stress and being worn out. it did not come from the people in his care, it was the staff.
he was a NVQ 2 care assistent, that had 2 others on night shift with him, that in his words “sat on their big **** arses” he was the only one on the night shift that did CPR (more than once) on than once.
It a shame that you can do your job then have to add more just to try and keep the level up. only to be told by your GP that you need to stop before you end up with serious problems.
March 7th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
That’s a shocker…I hope my parents stay up and healthy for a long time. How about setting up an anonymous site to name & shame these people? If they don’t want their name to be bandied about they should improve their practices. I feel pretty sorry for the people that *do* do their jobs properly - it must be maddening to see the useless lumps ruining the rep of the entire sector.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
I used to work in a Hospital where the care was that good compared with that in these rest homes the Elderly peoples relatives were astounded. Bear in mind we were on a busy Gastro ward where we were running around after very sick patients and we still had time to clean up, feed patients properly and do a tea/coffee round four times a day. All this provided free by the NHS instead of £500 a week.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Owned by Asians, staffed by Africans. What a way to end your days.
March 8th, 2006 at 7:35 am
I really hope a charge of criminal negligence can be made to stick to the caller and all others responsible.
March 8th, 2006 at 11:04 am
As it happens there’s a care home in Cardiff that’s just been raked over the coals by the local media. One of their residents was taken to hospital from this care home a few days before he died.
When he was admitted to hospital he was badly dehydrated, four decomposing cornflakes were found in his mouth, his catheter was smeared with faeces, and his eyes were so covered in sleep that the nurses couldn’t open his eyes.
When he died the pathologist cited neglect as a contributory factor in his death. At the coroner hearing the care home manager did a Michael Barrymore and refused to answer any questions about how he came to be in that state.
The care home’s insurance company offered the dead man’s family £5000 as an out-of-court settlement. To their credit, the family have told the insurance company exactly where they can stick their five grand.
Oh, I note that Nee Naw is unable to name the care home in his story due to confidentiality. However, this particular home that I’m referring to has already been named and shamed by the South Wales Echo, so I’m not breaking any rules of confidentiality when I say that it’s the Hillcrest Residential Home in Cardiff.
March 8th, 2006 at 11:32 am
you will be pleased to know that ‘care homes’ are ‘regulated’ by the Commission for Social Care Inspection’ whose strap line is ‘making social care better for people.’ you’ll find them at http://www.csci.org.uk.
currently care homes are inspected twice per year on an unannounced basis. under pressure from the ‘industry’ the government wants to ‘ease the burden of inspection’ and as a result CSCI is bringing in changes that will eventually see all care homes inspect themselves with a visit from an inspector every 1 to 3 years. CSCI claims this will allow it to tackle the problematic homes. all this is done under the banner ‘inspecting for better lives’. CSCI will no doubt say they are being misrepresented by some of the comments made.
i suggest someone starts a campaign to reverse this process before more of the most frail and vulnerable people in society die needlessly and lonely.
if the public knew about the government’s plans there would be an almighty outcry.
March 8th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Oh my God!!!! There are really no words to express my disgust at the number of people out there that have been educated so far beyond their intelligence!
I work in an “Assisted Living” facility in Colorado, USA. I feel that it is both an honor and a privelege to be there to share in the moments that my residents have left. Live is not about the destination, but about the journey… so if there is some tiny thing that I can do in my day to make that journey better, I do so to the best of my ability. My co-workers, however, mostly the nurses have made me seriously reconsider my choice of profession. I care, I have high expectations, and refuse to lower them - when I work with selfish, self-centered morons a twelve hour shift is almost more than my heart can take. My residents don’t deserve it, and I can hardly take it, I hate to leave but I can barely stand to stay…
March 8th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Give it a week then ring the HSE.
It is an offence for hospitals /care homes etc to have accessible windows and they will prosecute care homes where people fall out of windows.
Also deaths are reportable under RIDDOR and failing to do it within 5? days is an offence, usually a £5,000 fine. Sounds like the sort of place that can’t be bothered reporting these trvial deaths
March 13th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
I’m puzzled by your difficulty getting the address … in the US that information shows up based on the telephone that makes the call. If you dial the 9-1-1 emergency dispatcher, they see the address immediately.
March 13th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Dear All
Actually, this may constitute the common law criminal offence of causing death by wilful negligence. This is a very ancient, but still used, offence. It applies only where a person (or persons) have undertaken to take care of a vulnerable person in their home, and that person dies due to the wilful neglect (ie it is an offence of omission not commission) of the defendant(s). For instance it was once used where a couple had taken their elderly mother-in-law into their home and failed to call a doctor when it was obvious that she was seriously ill and needed one. They were successfully prosecuted. The incident should be reported to the local police, where the person reporting should ask to speak to the local CPS duty charging lawyer who may (ask them to get a copy of Archbold and look it up!) know about this. Then again, I may be wrong, not having a copy of that wonderful tome to hand……
March 14th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
[...] Another example of the ‘care’ that the elderly receive can be found in a posting by ‘Nee Naw’, who mans the 999 system for ambulances in London. Again, absolutely shocking. Nee Naw. [...]
March 26th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
[...] So I had Mothers’ Day off. I failed in buying cards for my mother and grandmother, but I did buy them both chocolate. My mom had organised a carvery meal for quite a sizable crowd of the family which was very nice, however she failed to mention to me and the rest of the family when she invited us all that she was also planning a trip to a garden centre. I only found out about this at 6:30pm yesterday and at the same time she said she’d pick me up so I could drink. In the garden centre? Well I hate these places almost as much as I hate nursing homes. Probably because they attract the same sort of patrons. At least I had the company of my uncle who was even less impressed than I was at our trip there. Martin said if he had a gallon of paraquat he could sort out the entire garden centre which amused me. But the food was good and so was the beer. [...]
April 20th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Talking about ‘don’t care’ homes, I’ve recently spoken to someone who has worked for one of these for only 3 months. She works nights by herself - looking after 18 residents! And until a few days ago had had no first aid training - she now has a one day course - great!!
She starts getting the residents out of bed at 04.30 a.m. to get them ready for the day staff to give them breakfast at around 08.00. The first ones up are left in the lounge for 3 hours+ until more staff come in. Obviously the sort of place that you’d really look forward to ending up in - not.
I’m stockpiling the paracetamol (or stronger) and the Jack Daniels and will go on my own terms rather than be killed off by this sort of treatment!!
(Have to say that the young lady in question was very sweet and obviously doing her best for them under difficult circumstances)
May 9th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Hi,
My mother died due to negligence in a care home in B’Ham last Jan.,I have a solicitor on the case now,(Mum died from kidney failiure from dehydration,not a stroke as the home told me).
A couple of points that I want to bring up, evidently the law is very diferent for “care”, versus “nursing ” homes or hospitals in a law suit.
Even though the reason she was in a home as she was unable to look after herself and had dementia the home does not have to turn over records even for basic (or lack of) care, ie, failure to provide food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medicine, comfort, personal safety and other essentials.If it was a nursing home or the claim was against any health care professional then the “Access to Health Records Act 1990″ would apply, and they would have to turn over records.The odd thing is that the law does state that these basic records have to be kept, for example the CSCI, (the commisssion for care inspection) inpects homes twice a year and asks to see these records if a complaint is made,(I did this they told me they upheld the complaint, but thats about all they do, not sure how many people have to die before they suspend a license.
Most of these cases will win or fail on what the records show, so we are off to court to try and get a ruling to force the home to comply.
One final point , CSCI publishes copies of its findings on every care home in England and Wales twice a year, they don’t identify a person by name in public, however as the inspector told me,”it is obvious to any one that knew the person who we are talking about”, they are at http://www.csci.org.uk/ .
May 17th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Just discovered this blog and this one particular topic pains me.
I work as a manager in our family run care home. My Grandmother started it over 30 years ago, and here am I now becoming a registered manager with the aforementioned CSCI.
Please, please, please be aware that some of the comments here make it sound like the majority of care homes are dangerous uncaring places. Not all of them are. Care home staff don’t need a slating en masse - there are some very good staff members as well as some not so good ones, so please don’t lump all care homes and their staff in one group called “bad”.
And CSCI for their part are trying their best too. They are being told to do less and less by government bodies but seem to be becoming more and more accountable for problems not being found.
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Dear Grottybags,
I don’t see anyone slating care homes and care staff “en masse”, I am sure we are all aware of the good and the bad in any field.
I stand by the statements in my prior mesage, sadly my experience is not that unusual, changes do need to be made.
June 4th, 2006 at 1:54 am
I feel awful for the victim, but I’m somewhat pleased to learn that this sort of idiocy is not confined to the States - I thought we had a monopoly on lethal nursing homes.
June 19th, 2006 at 7:54 am
Years ago, I worked in a job where I visited people and businesses, and one of the businesses I had to visit were care homes, both residential care homes and nursing homes. After a few months of this, I could pretty much tell within about 30 seconds of going into one whether they treated people decently or not. And the town I worked in had the whole range; from money farms that didn’t give a stuff about their residents, through to places I’d move into tomorrow if they’d have me.
All of which makes me wonder whether we haven’t got inspection wrong in lots of different areas; we rely on professional inspectors who know their business but don’t have an ongoing relationship with the community, and ignore the knowledge of local people who see the whole range of services locally.
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:22 pm
don’t think its only your parents you have to worry about - our 22 year old daughter has an acquired brain injury and on return to our home town was placed in an dreadful ‘care’ home. We made a successful complaint but the place is still open and doing very well for its owner. The inspector spoke - at our instigation - to a collection of distressed and disatisfied relatives and at the end said, you have reason to complain but it is beyond my remit, you need a solicitor. If we could have afforded one I would have like to but our lives are full of caring for our daughter. She is now 25 and currently being cared for in a home run by the British Legion - she was in the RAF at the time of the accident. This home is wonderful, although it is really for old people. There is very very little provision for the young disabled in this country. My advice is to stay in the charitable sector and beware if you live in Leicestershire or Nottinghamshire.
November 26th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
I am a nurse who defected to the ‘dark green’ side and have met one nurse who called us to a breathing problems at her ‘care’ home. We arrived to find her massaging the feet of this poor man, reassuring him he would be ‘fine’. Sadly, he was in cardiac arrest, something which this qualified nurse failed to notice! Just found this site recently, nice to hear the stories fromthe other side of the radio.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
What a horrific story. Stopping this sort of abuse doesn’t get enough attention until it seems it is far too late! I do agree with those people who are saying that the facility is only as good as its caregivers, but I also think we have a problem when caring individuals are overworked–they will miss things or slip up. In the end what it comes down to for me is two-fold. There really isn’t enough regulation in this business and that is the major problem. Secondly, everyone seems to not even think about long-term care until an event pushes them into having to deal with it. I think the more information people have and the more discussion on the topic of long-term care and caregiving that occurs the more likely we are to change these two things.
April 29th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
this is just awful ….my gran died through being neglected while in a nursing home ….she was only in there for 2 months …..while she was there she had 7 falls to resulting in a trip to casulty ….she was malnorished skin and bone and dehydrated ….the worse thing is that they did nothing …..she was semi concious when i went to visit her .. they had got her up and dressed her and just left her in a chair in the lounge …i said she needed an ambulance but they said she didnt all she needed was some tender loving care …..so i had to bring her home and call an ambulance from home she was admitted to hospital within an hour of leaving the home and she died 4 days later she was in such a state that the hospital thought she had a stroke but she hadnt ……ive since started a complaint against the home the csci have done a key inspection and pick up on many of the points i raised with them ….its about time these places leart that they cant get away with neglecting there residents
March 31st, 2008 at 7:34 pm
both me and my mum have 15 yrs combined experience of working in the care sector. i have found residents left on their commodes for over an hour in their night-clothes, residents who have not been correctly washed, and one resident who had a t-spoon shoved down her throat by a carer who was trying to give her some tablets. im recently re-entering the sector after a six year break and i hope i can make a small difference to the lives of at least a small number of elderly people in this country.