Workers' Liberty

When we watch a TV documentary exposing abuse of older people by visiting care staff, we shake our heads with incredulity that someone could do that to another vulnerable human being.

But it can easily happen and it is easily explained. For example, an agency worker turns up at a care home for her first day. She has to help three residents to wash and change and have breakfast. All the residents are highly dependent.

She doesn’t have time to read the notes, doesn’t have time because of the pressure on staff (due to minimum staffing levels) to help residents get ready for breakfast. Perhaps she was distracted or simply not trained, but one of the residents is left on a toilet for 30 minutes before a regular member of staff responds to the alarm in the toilet.

Whilst providing one of the residents with some tea, the agency worker puts the cup down and fails to let the resident (partially sighted) know. The resident puts her fingers in the hot tea... (barnetunison.blogspot.com)