A dossier compiled by major charities says desperately sick elderly people
have been left screaming in pain, with others given the wrong drugs, while
families were denied crucial information about the health of their loved
ones.
In detailed accounts, based on in-depth interviews with relatives of those in
care homes, one family described how they and their elderly mother only
learned that she had cancer when they asked care home staff what her tablets
were for.
The report was compiled by charities Age UK and The Health Foundation
following research showing that every day, seven out of ten care home
residents are victims of drug errors, with elderly people being given the
wrong medication, missing doses, and not being monitored for side effects.
Many relatives said elderly people were left to cry out in vain for pain
relief.
Reporting a recent visit, one said: "They [staff] were rushed off their
feet ... People were screaming out for their drugs, you know, people with
cancer, all sorts of really painful stuff going on. The nurses who should be
giving out the drugs were doing breakfasts."
Others said staff did not have time to read crucial information about the
medical and welfare needs of residents, with interruptions during complex
drug rounds making mistakes more likely.
"You have got one girl for 15 residents, they are all screaming out for their drugs, they're all in pain, they haven't had their breakfast. They [the nurses] may desperately want to read that care plan but they can't," said another.
Sleeping pills were given during the day, leaving residents unsteady on their feet during the evenings. Creams prescribed for one person were shared, causing infections to spread between residents, the report found.
In one of the most poignant accounts, the family of an elderly woman described how a chance question uncovered devastating news.
The report records: "When we visited the home one day we asked about some tablets which my mother was taking. We didn't know what they were and why she was taking them – neither did she. We were told they were important – they were part of the chemotherapy. We said: 'What chemotherapy?' The nurse said: 'The chemotherapy for the cancer.' We said: 'What cancer?'"
In another case, a woman who went into a care home at the age of 94 took pride in being independent, and administering her own medical care – eye drops for glaucoma, and cream and splints for arthritis.
Her family told the charities: "Her drops and her cream were taken away and locked up. Her eye drops were often forgotten, her splints and cream were rarely put on. She became withdrawn and depressed with the removal of her independence. So much so that she was prescribed antidepressants, which she repeatedly said she did not want or need."
Relatives said many staff did not have English as a first language, leading to communication problems, especially when it came to conversations about medication, increasing the risk of dangerous errors.
One elderly woman was repeatedly given codeine despite warnings on her medical records that the drug made her very ill – on one occasion so dangerously so that she had to be rushed to hospital. Another resident due to have paracetamol daily was instead given a high-risk drug, when her regular nurse was on holiday. When the nurse checked her records, three separate members of staff had made the same mistake in the same week.
The 26 interviewees spoke to the charities on condition of anonymity. Several expressed fears that making complaints lead to "repercussions" for their relatives or friends behind closed doors.
"If you start asking awkward questions, you're labelled a troublemaker," said one.
Another who nevertheless spoke to the care home about concerns, recalled then being asked to visit her father less often, after being told that the visits were "disruptive" to his routine.
High use of agency care meant staff were unlikely to get to know residents or each other, the report said.
Nor did care homes communicate properly with hospitals – despite the fact their frail residents paid repeated visits to them.
The family of one elderly woman described a visit to hospital which left them shocked: "My mother-in-law went into hospital and the nurses kept commenting to me that she seemed a bit confused. I realised that the care home staff hadn't even told them she had dementia," they said.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, from the National Pensioners Convention, said the failings reflected a wider system in crisis, with some elderly people in care homes treated worse than animals.
"The accounts are gut-wrenching," he said. "You would think in the 21st century, that we would have moved so far beyond this."
He believes that the quality of care homes can only improve if they invest more in those paid to care for the elderly – and if society digs deeper, to drag up the standards of care.
"We are talking about people who can earn more working on the checkout of their local supermarket," he said. "When you have a system that has badly-paid, poorly-trained staff administering to the most vulnerable and dependent people in our society, those are the ingredients for a system to fail."
"You have got one girl for 15 residents, they are all screaming out for their drugs, they're all in pain, they haven't had their breakfast. They [the nurses] may desperately want to read that care plan but they can't," said another.
Sleeping pills were given during the day, leaving residents unsteady on their feet during the evenings. Creams prescribed for one person were shared, causing infections to spread between residents, the report found.
In one of the most poignant accounts, the family of an elderly woman described how a chance question uncovered devastating news.
The report records: "When we visited the home one day we asked about some tablets which my mother was taking. We didn't know what they were and why she was taking them – neither did she. We were told they were important – they were part of the chemotherapy. We said: 'What chemotherapy?' The nurse said: 'The chemotherapy for the cancer.' We said: 'What cancer?'"
In another case, a woman who went into a care home at the age of 94 took pride in being independent, and administering her own medical care – eye drops for glaucoma, and cream and splints for arthritis.
Her family told the charities: "Her drops and her cream were taken away and locked up. Her eye drops were often forgotten, her splints and cream were rarely put on. She became withdrawn and depressed with the removal of her independence. So much so that she was prescribed antidepressants, which she repeatedly said she did not want or need."
Relatives said many staff did not have English as a first language, leading to communication problems, especially when it came to conversations about medication, increasing the risk of dangerous errors.
One elderly woman was repeatedly given codeine despite warnings on her medical records that the drug made her very ill – on one occasion so dangerously so that she had to be rushed to hospital. Another resident due to have paracetamol daily was instead given a high-risk drug, when her regular nurse was on holiday. When the nurse checked her records, three separate members of staff had made the same mistake in the same week.
The 26 interviewees spoke to the charities on condition of anonymity. Several expressed fears that making complaints lead to "repercussions" for their relatives or friends behind closed doors.
"If you start asking awkward questions, you're labelled a troublemaker," said one.
Another who nevertheless spoke to the care home about concerns, recalled then being asked to visit her father less often, after being told that the visits were "disruptive" to his routine.
High use of agency care meant staff were unlikely to get to know residents or each other, the report said.
Nor did care homes communicate properly with hospitals – despite the fact their frail residents paid repeated visits to them.
The family of one elderly woman described a visit to hospital which left them shocked: "My mother-in-law went into hospital and the nurses kept commenting to me that she seemed a bit confused. I realised that the care home staff hadn't even told them she had dementia," they said.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, from the National Pensioners Convention, said the failings reflected a wider system in crisis, with some elderly people in care homes treated worse than animals.
"The accounts are gut-wrenching," he said. "You would think in the 21st century, that we would have moved so far beyond this."
He believes that the quality of care homes can only improve if they invest more in those paid to care for the elderly – and if society digs deeper, to drag up the standards of care.
"We are talking about people who can earn more working on the checkout of their local supermarket," he said. "When you have a system that has badly-paid, poorly-trained staff administering to the most vulnerable and dependent people in our society, those are the ingredients for a system to fail."
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