Okay, let's return to the many deficiences of Whitehills/Meadowbrook Care Home, part of the Enhance Healthcare group. My mother, who resides in the place, is extremely deaf and requires two hearing aids. The batteries are supposed to last for at least five days, but such is the state of my mother's inability to hear, after around two or three days, even when there's still some power in the batteries, it's simply not enough to enable her to hear properly. She may be able to faintly hear 'sounds', but not distinguish precisely what's being said to her.
They're always telling me they check the batteries every few hours, but here's the thing. When they record their tick-list of assigned tasks, it's not done at the time, but hours later. That means they can record doing what they ought to have done, without ever actually having done it. (Much like they claim to clean the rooms every day, yet I have time-and-date stamped photographic evidence proving the floor hasn't been cleaned in a week, or the toilet seat in three days.) So the records suggest everything's been done properly, even when it hasn't. As long as the paperwork looks okay, that's all they're interested in.
For example, I'll visit my mother and ask whether she can hear me or not and she doesn't even realise I'm speaking to her if she's got an eye on the TV. (She reads the subtitles.) I'll tell a staff member my mother can't hear me and get the reply "That's funny - she could hear me ten minutes ago when I asked if she wanted a cup of tea." I'll say "Speak to her now then" and the staff's words fall literally on deaf ears. "I can't hear what you're saying" my mother will say, "I can't hear what you're saying." I suspect my mother sometimes guesses or lipreads what's being said (she'll be asked if she wants a cuppa at approximately the same time every day), and when she gives any kind of response to someone speaking, they simply assume she can hear them.
What's ridiculous is some staff will stand right next to her with their lips pressed right against her ear and speak in a loud voice. If they get any kind of response, they say to me "See, she can hear me!", as though I'm expected to spend an hour with my lips glued to my mother's ear in order to chat with her. I have video evidence of my mother being totally deaf to my attempts at conversing with her (and I don't have a soft voice), which once I remind myself of how to do it, I'll upload onto the blog. I also have one where she could hear me right away, and just to be fair, I'll upload that one as well. This was after I'd been complaining for some time, so they must've changed the batteries not long before I arrived that night. If only they'd do so all the time.
Sometimes I'll be told fresh batteries were fitted earlier in the day, but when I check, one hearing aid might have no battery at all, while the other battery is the wrong size. It'll be the correct circumference, but too narrow to make proper contact. I kid you not, this is a regular occurrence. I'll then email the manageress, who'll claim that, upon checking, records show the batteries were replaced at such-and-such a time sometime during the day, as if that settles the matter. So why couldn't my mother hear me then, or the member of staff? It's too much of a coincidence to suggest that the batteries always die just 10 or 15 minutes before I arrive on my visit.
No, what records prove are some staff must be lying about having checked or replaced the batteries when they haven't, or not put in the right ones, or not pressed the reset switch - or not waited 60 seconds after having removed the orange sticker as per the battery instructions. Sometimes the orange stickers haven't even been removed from the batteries beforehand, and this is people who are supposed to know what they're doing but clearly don't have a scooby.
'Care' should be more than just giving residents tea and toast, it should also be about ensuring they're equipped to face the day and be able to communicate with those aound them instead of being isolated in silence, which happens often. Why? Because most of the staff just don't care! It's my firm conviction my mother should be enabled to hear at all times, but Meadowbrook seem to think otherwise and consider me a pain in the @rse because I expect - nay, demand - she's looked after properly. Wouldn't you if it were your mother?
More horror stories to come. Comments welcome. And for those unaware of prior posts, links to them are presented below...
4 comments:
Hi, Kid.
I am outraged (This is an understatement) at the way both you and your mother are being treated.
But I am not surprised.
I have had similar experiences...
I just wanted to make a few suggestions of potential avenues to explore which may bring results.
You may have tried these and, if so, I apologise.
Firstly: have you tried writing to your M.P. -- or possibly even the Health Secretary? I have done this in the past with mixed results. One such occasion -- back in the 1980s -- had a spectacularly positive outcome. Another in the "noughties" and another in more recent times were met with complete indifference. It depends on the character of your MP and the Health Secretary...
Secondly (or perhaps "Firstly"): the BBC's "Call You and Yours" programme on Radio 4 has an exceptional record of getting results in cases like these.
Thirdly: "Private Eye" magazine's "In The Back" team highlight cases like this in every issue. They don't get issues resolved, but they do showcase them in print -- "naming and shaming".
I'm sitting here at my keyboard trying to think what else I can say to be of some support and help, but the catalogue of persistent neglect you have documented is just overwhelming.
You would think that pricking the consciences of the people running this home would only need to be done once to have the issues addressed.
The fact that this has not happened -- despite the mountain of evidence you have presented to them -- just shows that consciences and principles are not something they possess.
All my best to you and your mother.
Dal C.
I'm waiting to hear back from my local MSP, The Daily Express, and my local newspaper, but they're terribly slow in returning my calls, texts, and emails. I'm also awaiting the BBC getting back to me, but again, everything seems to go at a snail's pace. What really astounds me is, despite my catalogue of complaints and photographic evidence, the Social Worker who was assigned to my mother, as well as the Home's manageress, think that my mother's care is 'exceptional'. Staggering, isn't it? The Home seems more interested in addressing how I express my anger and frustration over the situation than in actually dealing with it. Thanks for the advice. I'll renew my efforts tomorrow morning in getting the media interested. Sadly, this sort of situation is not uncommon and I fear some sections of the media are now a little blase about such things. Thanks again.
I've been following your updates Kid, and they all leave me speechless. To think you have legal POA for her wellfare, and they still revoked your visitor access for inside the building? I'm shocked, that no one of position has chased this story of abuse and cruelty...Try protesting outside the building with a placard and pictures, for an hour or two each day, the Media may report then?
I'd thought about protesting, AAW, but truth is, I simply don't have the energy or stamina to do such a thing. I'll apply my mighty (though atrophying) brain to the problem and see if I can think of something else I can do.
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