Poor Care For The Elderly

Submitted by tonyplant on October 18, 2006 - 13:49.

The Times, amongst others, has a report on the poor state of home-care for elderly people. The 15 minute time slot came in for particular criticism.

In the first ever major study of domiciliary care services in England, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) found that councils were unable to attract and retain staff because of poor pay and that both carers and the cared-for complained of being rushed, demoralised and unable to form meaningful relationships.

The "15 minute slot", in which a care worker is expected to visit a person, wash them and get them dressed and ready for the day, was identified as a symbol of a regime that will be unable to handle the growth of Britain's older population.

The 15 minute allocation is clearly a nonsense. Too many people don't receive the amount of care that they need at the time they need it, even if it would keep them independent and active for longer and delay the need for more intensive and extensive care.

However, it is all very well for Age Concern etc. to welcome the report but what we need is an authoritative and well-costed report on what it would cost to provide appropriate social and personal care.

There seem to be several reports about the deplorable state of hospital food and the numbers of elderly people who need assistance to eat in hospital but don't receive it.

There has been a persistent problem with patients not getting the nutrition they need while in hospital. The release of the figures, in a parliamentary written answer, follows a study by Age Concern into what it called "the scandal of malnourished older people in hospital". Nine out of 10 nurses told the charity's Hungry to be Heard survey that they did not have time to provide the elderly with the help they need at meal times. (Telegraph)

Dr. Crippen has some discussion about using volunteers to feed patients but I don't think that this is a practical alternative for a number of reasons.

read more | add new comment | homecare | enhanced disclosure | costs | carer