- CQC review finds widespread neglect, lack of care and poor training
- Report’s conclusion: ‘This unacceptable situation cannot continue’
- Most of the 400,000 elderly in Britain’s care homes have dementia
- Inspectors visited 129 care homes and 20 hospitals across England
- They found that 90% had some aspect of poor or inconsistent care
Ben Spencer, Science Reporter for the Daily Mail
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Every dementia patient in the country can expect to suffer poor care at some stage, a damning report warns.
It says an astonishing nine in ten care homes and hospitals fail to provide the proper treatment.
The Care Quality Commission review found widespread neglect, lack of care, poor training and failings in communication.
Poor care: Most of the 400,000 elderly in Britain’s care homes have dementia, as do 40 per cent of those in hospital (picture posed by model)
The health watchdog’s report concluded starkly: ‘This unacceptable situation cannot continue.’
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Most of the 400,000 elderly in Britain’s care homes have dementia, as do 40 per cent of those in hospital.
Despite the huge scale of the problem, thousands of health and care professionals are failing to deal with the issue adequately, the CQC found.
Inspectors visited 129 care homes and 20 hospitals across England. They found that 90 per cent had some aspect of poor or inconsistent care.
They wrote: ‘It is likely that someone living with dementia will experience poor care at some point while living in a care home or being treated in hospital.’
Many staff fail to carry out basic checks properly, they found, so often they do not pick up their patients’ essential needs.
Focusing on improvements: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (above) said there can be ‘no excuse, and no hiding place, for poor care within our NHS’
Fifty-six per cent of hospitals and 29 per cent of care homes failed to assess fully the needs of those with dementia.
TRUE CARE COST ‘UP TO £170,000?Â
Pensioners in parts of the UK may have to spend up to £170,000 on care before they qualify for government help with the bills, a study has found.
Last year the Coalition announced a £72,000 cap on care costs from 2016, to stop people being forced to sell their homes to fund it.
Once they have paid £72,000, the Government is meant to help with any further costs.
But the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries found that when a person’s care spending is calculated – to see whether they have passed the threshold – food, living expenses and extra bills beyond basic care do not count.
It means people will pay up to £100,000 more than the Government said, and many will never qualify for help.
The average cost will be £140,000, the report said.Â
But a postcode lottery means it will be more in some areas – £170,000 in the West Midlands.
A Department of Health spokesman said the cap will protect people from ‘catastrophic care costs’.
Patients’ mental, social and emotional health was also neglected, with 42 per cent of hospitals and 34 per cent of care homes failing to deliver consistent care.
Inspectors also discovered a major communication breakdown when patients are transferred from a care home to hospital.
With many patients unable to tell doctors and nurses their needs, the elderly were in some cases left without pain relief for hours. Some hospitals had lost patients’ health documents or were not aware they had dementia.
In other cases, nurses phoned care homes for extra information, only to find the care staff had no knowledge of the patients’ needs or could not access the information.
One distraught daughter of an elderly patient told the CQC report, Cracks In The Pathway: ‘The professionals we encountered had very little knowledge on dementia and of my mother’s needs. At times we were made to feel that she was invisible’.
Another said: ‘Doctors need reminding that most of the time the person involved has been a pillar of the family.’
Last night Andrea Sutcliffe, England’s chief inspector of adult social care, called for a much more consistent approach to dementia care.
She said: ‘People living with dementia, their families and carers have every right to be treated with respect, dignity and compassion.Â
Every dementia patient in the country can expect poor care at some stage, the reports said. Stock image used
Problems: Fifty-six per cent of hospitals and 29 per cent of care homes failed to assess fully the needs of those with dementia (picture posed by models)
‘Our review found some great care, delivered by committed, skilled and dedicated staff. But this is not the case everywhere or even within the same service.’
NEARLY ONE MILLION ELDERLY MEN IN BRITAIN ARE LIVING IN ISOLATION
Nearly a million elderly men in the UK are living in isolation and the number is set to soar, a charity warned yesterday.
Older men are far less likely than women to have contact with the outside world and many speak to their children less than once a month, a study for Independent Age found.
The number of lonely men will rise by more than half to 1.5million by 2030, it said.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: ‘There can be no excuse, and no hiding place, for poor care within our NHS – we are focusing on improving the lives of dementia patients and their families as never before.’
Charities said the report confirmed years of anecdotal evidence.
Jeremy Hughes, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘With a staggering 90 per cent of the care homes and hospitals inspected found to have aspects of variable or poor care, this report highlights the plight that many people with dementia face. Many people are rightly worried about having to move into care.’
Angela Wood, whose 89-year-old mother Ivy suffered terrible abuse at her care home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said she was not surprised at the CQC’s findings.
‘It’s been two years since my mum was abused and yet nothing’s changed,’ said Mrs Wood, 59. ‘The whole system is flawed.’
Ros Altmann, former director general of over-50s campaign group Saga, said: ‘We would not treat children in the way we treat older people.Â
‘And the impact is not just on the patients themselves, it is on the families who have to cope with the consequences of an illness that is becoming more prevalent.’
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