An article in 'The Daily Mail' today was entitled :
Damning report exposes the rising number of elderly killed by neglect
600 DIE OF THIRST IN CARE HOMES
The paper reported that more than 600 care home residents had died of 'thirst' in the past five years and over 150 of 'malnutrition'. The figures are shown in the chart.
Neil Duncan-Jordan of the 'National Pensioners Convention' made the following points, that :
* a significant number of old people care homes are getting substandard, third-rate attention, yet the cost of staying in a care home is huge with the average between £600 and £800 a week.
* in some homes, no one helps the old 'eat their meals', ensures they are properly 'turned in bed' and makes sure they have 'had enough to drink'.
* these old people will have 'seen a lot in their lifetime' and have 'given a huge amount, whether that is during the War, bringing up children, or paying their taxes. For them to be treated in that way is nothing sort of scandalous.’
* some 1,446 died suffering with bedsores, where care home staff had not made them mobile in bed and another 4,866 died with blood poisoning, while 4,881 had fatal falls.
* sometimes meals are too unappetising to eat and staff are often not trained in spotting signs of dehydration.
Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director at 'Age UK' has said :
‘Malnourishment can have serious consequences for older people, such as delaying recovery from illness. Making sure residents eat nutritious, regular meals must be a high priority for care home staff.’
What a sad country Britain has become.
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