Elder Abuse - Government must not wait for an adult Victoria Climbie case

The Government must take immediate action to implement minimum standards for the care of the elderly following a report being screened on Channel 5 tonight showing a number of scenes of neglect of elderly residents of a care home.

Paul Burstow MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Spokesperson for Older People, has pledged his support for the six standards of care put forward by the national charity, Action on Elderly Abuse.

Paul Burstow MP said:

"Elderly people have a right to dignity and respect. All too often this is not the case and abuse is swept under the carpet.

"A care home becomes abusive to its residents when the convenience of the staff is a greater priority than the dignity and well-being of the people in their care. Restraining residents must not be done purely for the

convenience of staff.

"The Government is dragging its feet over enabling the registration of care staff. Calculations that it will take 20 years to register all care workers are shocking. These are people at the heart of the care process in a

responsible position.

"Abuse of the elderly needs to be treated as seriously as abuse of children. The Government must not wait for an adult version of the tragic case of Victoria Climbie before taking action."

ENDS (Notes to follow...)

Notes to editors

1. Press release from Action on Elder Abuse calling for urgent

action following an undercover report.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Katerina Clarke

Tel Direct: 020 8765 7005

Tel Admin: 020 8765 7000

Fax: 020 8679 4074

Helpline: 080 8808 8141

e-mail: katerinaclarke@elderabuse.org.uk

ELDER ABUSE CHARITY CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION FOLLOWING UNDERCOVER REPORT

The national charity Action on Elder Abuse is calling for urgent action following an undercover report into care for the elderly.

Chief executive, Gary FitzGerald, has listed six Minimum Standards the Government should meet, following the channel five programme 'Who Cares For Granny'1 which exposes viewers to the reality of neglect and abuse in care homes.

Scenes include an old man being forced to eat his dinner whilst sitting in his own excrement, and an old woman left all night in a soaking wet bed with an incontinence pad incorrectly attached to her skin. A carer is heard shouting at her, twice, to shut up as she groans in pain while having the pad removed. All the scenes confirm the cruelty of locking older people away in institutions that deliver neglect and humiliation instead of caring and support.

Said an angry FitzGerald, "Enough is enough. We hear stories like these on a daily basis but watching the harsh reality makes my blood boil.

We have been urging the Government for a very long time to take the issue of elder abuse seriously and to prioritise it higher on their agenda, and yet we're still witnessing this appalling culture of indifference and contempt for older people. Words and promises are no longer enough. We need action from the Government and we need it right now".

FitzGerald, who will be submitting the six Standards - together with a copy of the broadcast - to Government Ministers, MP's and MSP's, feels that this is the minimum necessary to address the current urgent situation, and will go a long way towards effecting improvements.

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The six points include:

· The immediate implementation of the PoVA2 register;

· Priority registration of basic-grade care staff with

the GSCC3;

· A call for a maximum one week turn around on all

CRB4 checks;

· Mandatory training in elder abuse for all

basic-grade care staff and all nurses, in line with recommendations from the CDNA5;

· An urgent review of the inspection strategy

implemented by the NCSC6;

· Adequate funding for care provision to halt the

crisis of care home closures7;

The six Standards are being supported by other leading charities. Said Tessa Harding, Senior Policy Advisor at Help the Aged, "This shocking documentary demonstrates how easy it is for a culture which violates older people's human rights to grow. Daily humiliations can be perpetrated by people who don't even realise the impact of what they are doing or not doing. The result can be a life sentence of degradation for many defenceless older people. It's time we tackled the neglect and abuse of older people as vigorously as we tackle child abuse. We applaud the commitment of Action on Elder Abuse in confronting these issues and they have our backing and full support in calling for urgent changes to the system that is supposed to protect older people and is plainly failing to do so". Ends Notes to editors:

· 1Who Cares For Granny - MacIntyre UK Undercover, Fri

10 October 9pm Channel Five

· 2PoVA register (Protection of Vulnerable Adults)

will list all persons considered unsuitable to work with older people i.e. known abusers. Contrary to a commitment given by Central Government the PoVA list has still not been implemented;

· 3The General Social Care Council was launched in

October 2001 and is the first regulator of the social care workforce in England. At current capacity it is anticipated that ten years will elapse before home helps and basic-grade care staff are registered. For more information on the GSCC and the Social Care Register go to website www.gscc.org.uk <<a href="http://www.gscc.org.uk">http://www.gscc.org.uk> or contact Imogen Shillito on 020 7397 5831;

· 4Criminal Records Bureau - despite claims that 90%

of all enhanced checks are completed within four weeks (still deemed too long), many care home operators are claiming that the process from start to finish often takes a minimum of 50 days. This means care homes being faced with the dilemma of either breaking a law which states that new employees will not be able to commence work until their CRB check has been completed or undermining their legal obligation to keep staffing numbers at an approved level. Under this pressure the National Care Standards Commission withdrew its interim guidance on 2 October 2003 and will apply discretion when considering why providers have not obtained CRB checks on new staff. For more information on CRB go to www.homeoffice.gov.uk <<a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk">http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk> and www.carestandards.org.uk/press+releases/pressitems/press_release_02_10_03_cr

b+.htm

<<a href="http://www.carestandards.org.uk/press">http://www.carestandards.org.uk/press+releases/pressitems/press_release_02_

10_03_crb+.htm> ;

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· 5CDNA (Community District Nursing Association)

Research by the CDNA revealed that although 88% of district and community nurses have encountered some form of abuse only a third felt properly equipped to deal with the problem. The CDNA is calling, as a matter of urgency, for mandatory training on elder abuse for all nurses. For further information on CDNA go to website www.cdna@tvu.ac.uk www.cdna@tvu.ac.uk> or contact Ronan O'Connor on 07775 66708;

· 6NCSC (National Care Standards Commission) is an

independent regulatory body responsible for ensuring that care services are run in accordance with national minimum standards and regulations set by government. Current mandatory inspection requirements for residential and nursing homes are: one announced and one unannounced per year. This strategy is failing to readily identify the types of abuses seen in the channel five documentary. For more information go to website www.carestandards.org.uk <<a href="http://www.carestandards.org.uk">http://www.carestandards.org.uk>;

· 7According to figures published in Laing & Buisson's

annual market update: Care of Elderly People Market Survey 2003, UK care capacity in residential settings for elderly and physically disabled client groups were reduced by 13,400 places in the 15 months to April 1 2003 to reach 501,900 places across all sectors (private, voluntary, public). Capacity across all sectors is now some 74,000 places lower than the peak in 1996. Although some homes are closing because they do not provide the quality of care required, many good quality homes are being forced out of business by financial pressures.

Action on Elder Abuse is a national charity which aims to protect, and prevent the abuse of, vulnerable older people. It does this by raising awareness of the issues, encouraging education and by giving information and support to those in need. It has the only national freephone helpline dedicated to this cause and callers may ring from Monday to Friday between the hours of 10.00am and 4.30pm on 080 8808 8141 for confidential support and information.