next »

[surly girl]

Lack of funding, poor NHS Trust supervision and non-investment in training strikes again. When will we learn??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5148154.stm

So much for government healthcare reform. Good to note that the article speaks of the efforts of some staff in the face of indifference from their managers. In the face of this indifference, and perhaps a culture of fear (Cornwall has fairly high unemployment and who wants to put themselves out of a job by speaking up?), it must be hard to speak out against wrongdoing.

</rant>

[Lynne]

Oh, that's sad.     The irony is that you actually get better oversight in a larger residential setting, yet the quality of life is only very rarely as good as community-based.  One day if people with developmental and psychiatric issues are ever more highly valued (in reality, not just given lip service) the additional funding that will result will lead to better staffing, better trained and more highly qualified staff, and less of these abuses.  

[Sian]

God thats embarrassing to read. I feel ashamed of some people. I really do. :oops:

I'm gobsmacked at some of the situations vulnerable people involuntarily wind up in.

There was a documentary on a couple of years ago in a hopital, it showed the understaffing and the bad apples, not to mention the neglect and abuse. It was harrowing.

Proper training needs to be given. The bad apples need to be taken to court over their actions, not just dismissed.

[surly girl]

sian, i know - talk about being ashamed of your own country.

there was an additional bit on the BBC site today from the family of one of the residents - he had "comforters" (ie blankies) to keep him company at night but some staff took them off him. he now screams at night. his family said it was a total undoing of all the work they'd done to make every one of his days as comfortable and relaxing as possible - they only sent him into residential care during a changeover of his meds.

i can't put into words how bad i feel not only for him and his family, but also for people on the staff who maybe saw it happening and couldn't speak out. also for the people who are misguided and uneducated enough to think this is the way we should take care of vulnerable people. it'd not as easy as just blaming any one person, sadly.

sorry for such a rant - but i spent my day at work doing precisely nothing that helps anyone at all, and wishing i could afford to give it up and retrain to do something that actually makes a difference.

*sighs*

[Sian]

You know what? I consider myself to be mentally sound (!) but I still have a blankie!!! I'm 21 with two kids and I would never take away their comforters.

If I don't have something to hold onto at night I cannot sleep!

I haven't always been like that, its only been the last few years but I know that if someone was to tell me I couldn't have it I would be so lost.

I feel for all the people involved, its disgusting. I was in hospital last year for surgery and was put in a bed opposite an 80 year old lay with no eyes. She was suffering with severe dementia and would often shout and strip naked. She was obviously blind but for the few days I was there nobody went and took her the commode, nobody helped her to the bathroom. She wasn't bathed and it was only when I pointed out on the second day (I was out of it for most of the 1st) that I hadn't seen her fed that some one took her a left over egg sandwich and some orange juice.
Later that night she soiled herself and started shouting for help. She was screaming about a ship sinking. I felt awful and pressed my alert button but it took 7-8 minutes before someone came and even then it was two african assistants that couldn't speak english!!! They told her off for not calling them sooner! I spoke to the staff nurse the next day and he assured me that the old lady wouldn't be there for much longer. The only person I had seen at her bed side was her neighbour, who had bought her brand new night clothes, a few skirts and some sweaters. The old lady told her she had been in hospital for 2 weeks! None of her family had come to collect her, they had waited 5 days. They were moving her to a secure unit at our local "Mental Hospital".

The day i left I took her the bottled water I had bought, a bag of boiled sweets and the voucher i had bought for the radio and tv...probably not much use but hey! I just wanted to make her comfortable and I didn't know how.

[surly girl]

it really makes you think, doesn't it?

it's not even a case of pity - it's an understanding of basic human rights. you did the best you could, sian. well done you - a lot of people might have felt the same but done nothing.

i really am going to shut up now. am so down and disillusioned at the moment, and really, really wish i could afford to change career and make a difference.

bah.

[Sian]

Babe, one day you will. If its in your heart and you want to do it that badly you will.

Have a look at some homelearning courses or just read up in your spare time. I studied Health and Social Care for two years and barely scraped through. My grade wouldn't even count on a cv and its all because I messed up. Now I have two kids and I am extremely happy but I want so desperately to be able to do something worthwhile when the time comes that I am considering learning from home to start with and then attending college.

You will find a way. I have faith in you because I can see how much you want to do it! Best of luck hun. :wink:

[Lynne]

sorry for such a rant - but i spent my day at work doing precisely nothing that helps anyone at all, and wishing i could afford to give it up and retrain to do something that actually makes a difference.
*sighs*

You are actually doing more good than you know by speaking up, both here and on the Comments part of the site.  People need to hear other people say it's not OK any more for things like this to happen, and the more people speak up, the more the attitude changes when the 'people in charge' hear that there are people who really care out there.  

[Lynne]

. . . it was only when I pointed out on the second day (I was out of it for most of the 1st) that I hadn't seen her fed that some one took her a left over egg sandwich and some orange juice.
Later that night she soiled herself and started shouting for help. She was screaming about a ship sinking. I felt awful and pressed my alert button but it took 7-8 minutes before someone came and even then it was two african assistants that couldn't speak english!!! They told her off for not calling them sooner! I spoke to the staff nurse the next day and he assured me that the old lady wouldn't be there for much longer. The only person I had seen at her bed side was her neighbour, who had bought her brand new night clothes, a few skirts and some sweaters. The old lady told her she had been in hospital for 2 weeks! None of her family had come to collect her, they had waited 5 days. They were moving her to a secure unit at our local "Mental Hospital".
The day i left I took her the bottled water I had bought, a bag of boiled sweets and the voucher i had bought for the radio and tv...probably not much use but hey! I just wanted to make her comfortable and I didn't know how.

You are better tha gold, Sian!  If everyone did some considerate act like this the world would be a much nicer place.  It's horrible being in a situation where you see someone who needs help but you don't know what to do about it, isn't it?  Every time I am in a similar situation (and I somehow draw situations like these to me like a magnet <G>) and I respond, I don't know if I am helping or hurting.  However, in the long run I would rather err on the side of trying to help rather than of letting things slide because "it's not my affair."  You're a little angel for doing that and you have my deepest respect (for what THAT'S worth! :wink:).  O:)

[Sian]

The way I saw it was this,

That could be me some day. Or my friends or family. My grampy was out of it in his last few days but we were there constantly. A nurse told us it was ok to go home (it was christmas eve) and shortly before midnight they called us to say he'd gone in his sleep. I know its unlikely but I pray to god there was someone there with him when he went.

I just felt for her, and I was disgusted that her family hadn't been in to see her. I hope and pray that this lady has someone to hold her hand when the time comes. I know I'd want that!

[Janice]

That was a very kind thing to do, Sian.  I am sure you made her feel that someone cared.  There by the grace of God go us.

[acuteward]

Some people WANT to be alone when they die, although I'm not suggesting that this is the case with these people.

The last patient that died while I was at work held on until everyone had left the room. She told us all to go away ( and she had no dementia ) and I waited outside the door with her niece for 5 minutes and when we came back in she was gone.

I know a lot of people feel that there should be someone there while someone is dying, but not everybody wants that. I imagine that it would be a comfort to most people, but it's even more important to abide by the wishes of the patient, and if it is their wish to have privacy while they die then that is their choice.