The Plight of the Elderly in England 2017.
In my lifetime there has never been a time like the present day. Camouflaging the suffering of the elderly has become a successful art form. Powerful lobby groups have barged into media and government thinking.
There are times when I need a bucket to be sick in when I think of how much time is spent on the “Gay lobby” and “GM Foods”. The elderly are regarded as “A Problem” the others have a “Cause”? Residential Nursing care is in total crisis, panic is setting in. We need to talk urgently about this moral failure, facts not fantasy, reality not rhetoric.
People say I should “Keep quiet” about this subject, but that is like telling a Rottweiler to lick a frog! I have spent over 36 years working on the lowest level in care and I have witnessed indescribable suffering. My job designation was described as a ‘Nursing assistant’ back in 1978, that title changed over the years to ‘Care Assistant’ and more recently ‘Support worker’. My wife rose through the ranks from’ State registered nurse’ to ward Sister and ‘Nurse teacher’.
I mention the above because I think it important to note that, I am not someone who worships his own conclusions, I have always run things past my wife, and taken her advice. That said, it is my considered opinion that this particular crisis can only be cured from the bottom up. Most top down organisations are structured to fail, for reasons that I will explain.
I find it hard to believe that registered managers in the C.Q.C. do not have to hold a professional nursing qualification. This leaves a gaping hole in the system of regulation. It is often the case that the hands on care assistant can know more about general nursing care than the inspectors. This is totally unacceptable, and I believe shameful.
The (Unqualified) Care worker today is asked to take on impossible tasks. I have known care assistants in residential nursing care expected to look after 8 to ten residents each, sometimes more, they have no union support and are often totally disempowered. Most know that if they speak out about neglect and abuse they will lose their jobs, or worse still be ‘set up’ by an allegation against them!
None of the whistle blowers (To my knowledge) have been re – employed. A very good reason for keeping quiet is that if you lose your job going on benefits is a complicated unnerving thing to do. It also is stigmatised.
One of the most important things that is going unreported in the media is the amount of people who are leaving the job of care assistant, Support worker, because they do not wish to be associated with people who are regarded by the general public as abusers. The ones who stay behind may well be less vocationally caring than the ones who leave the profession.
This is a National scandal.
Unless there is an open honest debate about this we are in real trouble. We must empower the Care assistant/ Support workers to be fully involved with this debate and, absolutely protected under the law?