General Chat

How on earth could this woman do such a thing and especially in front of the poor patient. She should be locked away and given no food at all.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nolan/clips/20110124_carerhidden



Carer ate food meant for patient with Alzheimer's
Patricia Young ate food intended for Mrs McCluskey
Northern Ireland's South-Eastern Health Trust has apologised after a care assistant admitted abusing a 70-year-old woman with Alzheimer's Disease.

The family of Ivy McCluskey, who were worried about her dwindling weight, secretly recorded Patricia Young eating food meant for her patient.

Mrs McCluskey died 12 weeks after Young stopped caring for her.

The 54-year-old of Mandeville Avenue in Lisburn, who has admitted two counts of abuse, will be sentenced next month.

The secretly recorded footage has been obtained by BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show.

Mrs McCluskey's daughters have described how their mother rapidly lost weight in the weeks before her death.

"We were really baffled. Mummy was declinling, losing all this weight, but we did not know why," Mandy said.


Mrs McCluskey's daughters have described how their mother rapidly lost weight
"At night, when she was put down to bed, her belly was rumbling. She was actually starving with hunger."

Diane said she was feeling "an awful amount of guilt" about what happened to her mother.

"Even though you have the carers in there to take the pressure off, then you're feeling we should have done it all ourselves and then we wouldn't have to live with this."

The South-Eastern Trust has said it is sorry for the unacceptable standard of care received by Mrs McCluskey.

A spokesperson added that as soon as they became aware of problems, they took immediate steps to ensure Mrs McCluskey's safety.

Words fail me!

made my blood boil pure evil...."people" like her give us honest & caring carers bad names.

Lets hope she gets what she deserves....maybe the prison officers could forget to feed her too!!!!

jude x

How could anyone do such a horrible thing?

Morning Liz, Thanks for adding this,

I am doing some training in the care sector at the moment, so looking at articles on Alzheimers which may highlight 'good / bad practice' ( designed to help carers get a better knowledge of Dementia generally) .

Helping in the office for a couple of days I am having the opportunity of seeing it from both sides in the sense of seeing the clients and their needs, and also the employment angle.

People going to the job centre here are 'strongly encouraged' whatever their work background, to look at jobs in the care sector which is really the only growth area job wise.

That means people are being pressured to take jobs that they 'may' not be suited to or happy with, just to 'get a job'. I was asked by job centre staff to apply for a job which involved caring for someone, and using a hoist to lift them...I pointed out that I had no experience of using equipment (safely or otherwise) and the reply was "How hard can it be?" !!

I know from where I am now that there are agencies which DO do excellent training and really thorough checks on staff before they are ever sent to anyone. But I fear that standard is not applied everywhere.

Appalling case, not least because we all are getting older and want the best care for our relatives and ultimately ourselves.

Thought you had started a thread about me Liz.

Having had the old man ship in a girlfriend with dementia at one time I can I probably did a few unethical things if only to keep her safely indoors and not roaming the roads.
I agree that people are pushed into care to achieve numbers by the job centres.You have to realize that numbers are more important than welfare at all times.

Sharron, no not you love, I couldn't see you being this cruel, however bad things were.



I agree that it seems carers are in short supply, judging by the amount of ads for them and it's more than likely that many are only in it for the money, but surely any person should have the milk of human kindness in them and not treat a patient who cannot articulate their needs in this awful way.

Rose, I have several programmes about dementia that I recorded from tv, I don't know how useful they would be but if I can get oh to put them on a disc as I wanted him to do for me, I will send you a copy. I don't think you would be able to watch them online now as most were a good while back.

I was horrified at some of the stuff I saw re carers etc and if I was younger and well, I would probably get involved in some way, having helped my elderly neighbours with their relatives in the early stages of Alzheimers etc

Lizx

Beggars belief.
Hope she gets justice doled out to her.

Liz

Here in New Zealand there seem to be a lot of Islanders (Tongan, Samoan) working as carers, at least in the Dementia home where my husband is. They treat all the residents with love, as if they are their own family members. I think a record is kept of how much each resident has eaten or drunk and they are weighed regularly. I am very happy with the care that OH receives. We also have family participation meetings 4 times a year where we can ask questions or make suggestions.

Huia.

Hi my friend, I am so glad your husband has such good care, it helps you to know that he is well looked after and treated kindly. Keeping people hydrated is very important as dehydration causes confusion which can be thought to be dementia when it isn't altho I know that's not the case with Phil. I think the people of the nationalities you mention are more caring people, nurturing comes naturally to them.

I am afraid here there are often carers in court for theft from the people they go to, or for ill treatment, sadly some only do the job bcause they can't find anything else and they just want the money.

Also with some agencies, the conditions aren't good, the pay is low yet the agencies charge a lot and the carers only have a short time to do all that is necessary then on to the next person, passing on who knows what germs. I know when my neighbour had someone come in to help her wash and dress after an op and the stupid woman wouldn't go upstairs, she was so fat she wouldn't use the stairlift and couldn't squeeze past it on the stairs. She made the neighbour come down on the lift and bring down what she needed herself. Lots of elderly people don't like to complain in case their care package gets stopped or in case another carer will take it out on them. My neighbour was like that.

It's so sad. I hope I never have to rely on carers.

Hope you are feeling ok, Huia, I haven't had a lot of time to come on here lately, should be sleeping now but had to check something out.

Take care,

Lizxx

Do you think there might be a cultural problem here? The islanders no doubt look on their elderly in a different way to us more advanced superior races who treat them,and anybody else who doesn't fit in with the dream,with rather more disdain.

I think we run our rest homes in the wrong way.The elderly are not usually in there because they are totally useless and can do nothing but because they can no longer do everything.So,why are they not doing a bit of cleaning and food prep rather than sitting about,waiting for the next cup of tea that tastes like it has been drunk once,and still feeling like they are contributing something?

This is probably me trying to justify neglecting my dad again!

No Sharron I think you have it right. It is good for your Dad to be involved and to feel useful.

Sharron, (without 'advertising' lol ) the company I am training with seeks to do just that, as well as caring for people in their own homes, it seeks to keep them independent in smaller ways also...eg instead of just 'making the meal', 'helping' the client to prepare it themselves etc, going out an about with them as a 'friend' as well as a carer.

Well I just have to jump in here, having spent 22 years caring for the elderly in a Home for the Aged, where the amount of care received varies as do the resident's needs and mental acuity. Every resident who requires assistance with eating has a record kept of everything they eat or drink, and a minimum standard must be maintained. Every 3 months their diet and all other issues are reviewed, twice a year family are invited for an individual conference, where concerns are addressed. The staff are also flexible in that if a major concern arises, it is addressed immediately, rather than wait for the conference. Most of the staff treat the residents with kindness, their work is also reviewed annually or as the need arises. Should there be any evidence of any ill treatment, the director of care has the authority to terminate their employment immediately. It happens.
There are other types of abuse as well, I recall with sadness a young mother, working as a carer in the home, who was recently separated, financially strapped and emotionally overwrought, desperate to feed her kids, took a credit card from a resident, and bought groceries on the way home. She was identified by the video surveillance in the grocery store. Yes she lost her job, yes she could never get a reference, yes she ended up on welfare subsidy, The resident refused to press charges, but the damage was done. Her teen daughter ran away from home, her son was taken from her custody because she spiralled down into an alcoholic haze. I still have a problem trying to criticize her, she had reached the end of her rope and acted out of desperation, and had previously shown nothing but kindness to that particular resident.

sorry to go on, but I have to wonder if the named carer in the case mentioned, was also financially strapped and hungry, not to excuse the behaviour, to try and understand what drives someone to such an act. Nothing is worse than taking advantage of fragile, vulnerable people, be they children or the elderly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nolan/clips/20110124_carerhidden


Watch this and then have a rethink, she doesn't look financially strapped and hungry, to do it in front of the woman as well, how evil is that? I think she was a carer at the poor woman's home.

Mary, I too could understand the person's desperation who stole the card but that didn't deprive the patient/client of food, probably the woman wolfing down the dinner had done it frequently to save herself the bother of getting herself something later or bringing sandwiches or whatever to work.

Lizx

nudging

The mention of the unemployed being'encuraged' to go into care is all to true.
I have a friend, just turned 60, who has been a carpenter for the past 30 years. He's been unemployed for 2 years now.
One job he did, in his 20's, was as a hospital porter.
Every week when he signs on, he has to show evidence of looking for work - very difficult when there is absolutely no building work going on.

The jobcentre are now trying to insist that, as he was a hospital porter 40 years ago - he could go into caring!!! (believe me - he couldn't, and he knows it!)
He pointed out that, in his youth he was also a gravedigger - which hardly qualifies him to be a forensic scientist.
..but the pressure's on

Liz I can't access the clip in my area, but hadn't clued in to the fact that it was in the patient's home, now that's a different story.
Maggie - In the home where I worked there are/were some men who were retired or laid off from other jobs who had taken the relatively short training to become a carer as a second 'career'. A huge change from working in the steel mill. Not always appropriate!

I watched the clip and I was disgusted by it.