Growing old is an inescapable fact of life. Old age awaits us all, and when it arrives, surely
we would expect to be treated with the same dignity and respect that w e have experienced throughout the rest of our
lives. And yet, disgracefully, for many
older people, this is not the case.
In a departure from my usual genre, I want to take
this opportunity to draw some attention to a topic which will come to be
important to us all.
Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. It w as
launched on 15 June 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of
Elder Abuse (INPEA) and the UN’s World Health Organization. On 9 March 2012, UN General Assembly Resolution
66/127 established 15 June as a UN International Day.
Much work has been done to raise the protection of
vulnerable older people up the political agenda, but there is still more to
do. No one questions the need to keep
our children safe, but w hen it comes
to adults, the issue becomes more complex.
It is assumed, for many, that because we have knowledge of our rights
and are able to speak for ourselves, we do not require assistance in securing
these rights. However, as we grow older,
we may find ourselves physically unable to do the things we once did for
ourselves. We may find that we
deteriorate mentally, leaving us unable to advocate for ourselves and totally
reliant on others.
Many elderly people are extremely vulnerable. They may not have relatives; they may live
alone and be unable to leave the house unaided.
They may feel ashamed to report abuse, fearing it
w ill be an admission that they are vulnerable and are no
longer as capable as they once were. For
many elderly people, this results in them being taken advantage of, neglected,
treated with disrespect and indifference and left in conditions that would
cause outrage were it to happen to a child.
We know this is happening and yet society turns the other way - our
growing elderly population is an inconvenience to us.
Sixty percent of all adult safeguarding alerts raised in 2011-12 involved people over 65. The majority of this abuse takes place in people’s own homes. According to the charity Action on Elder Abuse:
- 8.6% of older people living in our communities are subject to elder
abuse (in excess of 500,000 people)
- 60% of victims are over 80 years of age and more than 15% are over 90
years old.
- Nearly a quarter (23%) live with their abusers (66% of abusers are
relatives) and 19% of victims have dementia.
The truth is that the vast majority of abuse arises
out of ignorance – an inability on the part of perpetrators to see that their
actions are abusive. Financial abuse of
older people is commonplace, with relatives helping themselves their
“inheritance” early or selling off belongings without permission. Many elderly people who are reliant on others
to provide their care are simply neglected, either wilfully or due to time
pressures. They are left in the same
position for hours, sometimes in soiled continence pads, put to bed in the
afternoon or left without access to food and drink, as evidenced by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) review of dignity and respect in care homes and an Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report, published in 2012.
Many older people, especially those with dementia,
are not included in decisions about their own care. Many, particularly those who cannot
independently mobilise, are not provided with social stimulation. No effort is made to support older people to
take part in the activities they enjoyed when they were independent. Often they spend the majority of their days
sitting in lounges or in bed, not even offered the opportunity to access homes’
gardens. It is a moral imperative that
everyone should be able to enjoy the best quality of life possible until the
end. Too often providing anything beyond
basic care is seen as simply not worth the effort.
Care provided by domiciliary care agencies in the
home is frequently rushed, and is accordingly of poor quality, sometimes even
unsafe. In order to fit into schedules,
customers are put to bed in the afternoon and are expected to stay there until
the next morning. Carers do not stay to
ensure the clients are eating or drinking properly. A CQC report into home care published in February 2013 found that the people they spoke to “felt that they
lacked choice with regard to the number of new or unfamiliar care workers who
arrived at their home.” Imagine how you
would feel your personal care was delivered by a succession of strangers? This is the reality for many older people
across the UK.
It cannot be denied that much of this has its roots
in the current economic climate.
Staffing levels in many care homes and nursing homes are low, putting
staff under pressure and leaving residents with their basic needs unmet. Domiciliary care staff are paid minimum wage
(sometimes less, as they are not paid for travel between calls) and are expected
to deliver care in sometimes as a little as 15 minutes. A United Kingdom Home Care Association (UKHCA) report,
published in July 2012, found that “73% of homecare visits in England appear to be 30 minutes or shorter and a
staggering 87% in Northern Ireland
(42% in Wales and Scotland ).
There is evidence of the use of visits which are 15
minutes or fewer in all administrations, and as high as 28% in Northern
Ireland.”
Providers report frustrations at how little local
authorities are prepared to pay them to provide care, whilst the local
authorities, in turn, protest that they are facing budget cuts and cannot afford
to pay more. This week the Care Minister
Norman Lamb called home care providers to a summit, as he fears (quite rightly,
as it turns out, given the revelations about the poor care delivered to an 83-year-old woman exposed by the BBC on Thursday)
that the crisis in home care funding is “a scandal waiting to happen”.
The Care Bill

Action on Elder abuse would like to see a criminal
charge of elder/adult abuse included in the Bill, which would “cover
circumstances where an adult uses their relationship or position to cause or
allow an older person or dependent adult to suffer unnecessary physical pain or
mental suffering, or injures their health, or steals, defrauds or embezzles
their money or property.” MP Nick Smith
is calling for an amendment to the Bill which will make corporate neglect an
offence,
in order that care home companies take responsibility for the poor standards in
their homes.
The Care Bill will be going through the House of
Commons later this year, so you can help by writing to your MP and highlighting
some of the Bill’s weaknesses. Please
feel free to contact me for more information.
Action on Elder Abuse are also lobbying for many of these changes –
visit their webpage for further details.
Raising Awareness
It is vital that a spotlight is shone on the widespread
abuse of vulnerable elderly people in our society. There are thousands of carers and relatives
out there who provide excellent care, but there are too many who do not. It is unacceptable. Adult Safeguarding should be far higher on
the government’s agenda. It will be
costly, but it should be, because this is an investment for all our
futures. We as individuals also have a
responsibility for instigating a change in attitudes. One of the first steps towards this is to spread
awareness of what constitutes abuse, to make abusers to stop and think about
the impact of their behaviour and to ensure that victims recognise it as abuse,
and not just something to be suffered in silence.
What constitutes abuse?
Financial abuse: taking money or welfare
benefits without your permission; belongings or property being withheld or
stolen by another person.
Physical abuse: as well as intentional physical harm, this can
include assisting you to move in a rough manner, forcible restraint, and even locking
you in a room.
Emotional abuse: shouting, swearing,
bullying, teasing or humiliating you or making threats.
Neglect: ignoring medical or physical care needs, whether
maliciously or not.
Sexual: being made to do things of a sexual nature
against your will.
Discrimination: comments or jokes about a person’s disability,
age, race or sexual orientation.
Where to go for help or advice?
There are a number of places to go to get help and
advice around adult safeguarding:
- If someone has been seriously injured or is in immediate danger, you
should call 999. If you suspect a crime
has been committed, it should be reported to the police.
- Contact Adult Services, a department of your local council. You can find out w ho
your local authority is on the DirectGov website.
Contact numbers can be found in the phone book.
Tell them you want to report an Adult Safeguarding issue. They will be able to advise and support
you. Most councils will also have
further information on adult safeguarding on their websites.
- If the concerns are about a care home or domiciliary care service, you
can contact the regulatory body to report any concerns:
o If you live in Northern Ireland, this is the Northern
Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety - Social Services Inspectorate - 0289 052 0500
- These bodies also offer a service for raising about concerns about a
care that you work for, which can be raised anonymously if you wish. The CQC advise that before contacting them
with a whistleblowing allegation, you consider:
- speaking
to your line manager or a senior member of staff about your concerns.
- reading
your employer's whistlebleblowing policy which will give you information on what to do next.
- Mencap also run a free confidential whistleblowing helpline for all care staff working in the UK – the number is: 08000 724725
- From October 2010 the Local Government Ombudsman has been able to
consider complaints from people who fund their own care through Direct Payments.
It is a free service, but in most cases they will only consider a complaint
once the care provider has been given a reasonable opportunity to deal with the
situation. You can contact their advice team on 0300 061 0614
- You can speak in confidence to your GP, practice nurse or dentist if you
are being harmed.
-
The Citizens Advice Bureau is a good source of advice around financial matters, if you have any concerns
in this area. They can be contacted on 08444 111 444
-
Domestic abuse can occur at any age and is never acceptable. If you are scared of someone you live with,
you can call the National Domestic Abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247
-
Action on Elder Abuse has a free confidential helpline which provides information, advice and support to victims and others who
are concerned about or have witnessed abuse. This helpline is available Monday
to Friday, 9am to 5pm on: 080 8808 8141
- Age UK also has an advice number you
can call: 0800 169 6565
The conditions under which we allow our some of our
elderly people to live are appalling. We
would not tolerate it for ourselves, so how can it be acceptable for those who
have lost the ability to provide and speak for themselves? Please take the time to share some of this
information with the people you know. If
you have elderly friends, relatives or neighbours, you may want to consider
printing out the numbers and details above to give to them. We must do more to raise awareness of these
issues, to keep them on the government’s agenda and end the abuse of our older
generation to whom we owe so much.
Another disturbing aspect of our society that is being so badly influenced by the effects of austerity measures. In many ways our society has never had more surplus income but so many basic features of a civilised society are being eroded. Never mind though - look at the new Nissan qashqai (was this a scrabble maximum score for a car name competition?) in the drive. Yes, I'm all right Jack. Imagine how inadequate care for the elderly in the third world is?
ReplyDeleteIronically, it's probably not such (though of course, these things are all relevant, given the standard of living for working-age people in the developing world) a problem developing nations, as it is far more common for older people to be cared for by their families than it is in the UK.
DeleteInformation we should all be very aware of, but the majority choose to ignore. Available funds seem to be unfairly allocated across society. As highlighted in the blog, the elderly infirm have now become an inconvenience - have we forgotten the contributions these people made to society throughout their earlier lives? Our senior citizens deserve more.
ReplyDelete