Vulnerable AND valuable

The headline yesterday was: 

"Care home staff 'abused elderly': six arrests made

A former matron and five nurses who worked for a care home have been arrested over 'serious allegations' of mistreatment and neglect of 'very vulnerable' elderly residents."

You may remember I was writing about the importance of recognising that all, including disabled people, should be treated with respect (Do not resuscitate) and valued as persons. The Telegraph report illustrates the danger of abuse of the vulnerable, even in places where they are meant to be cared for. The nursing home in question specialises in caring for severe Alzheimer's sufferers, who are, in my view, in the front line for abuse - which, at its extreme, includes euthanasia.

"Chief Superintendent Richard Bayly, from Lancaster Constabulary, said the 'serious allegations' involved 'very vulnerable, elderly residents' and regarded 'a significant number of cases'.

"He said: 'These arrests are a culmination of a thorough investigation into serious allegations of mistreatment of residents at Hillcroft Slyne nursing home.

"'The inquiry is complicated and we have a team of specialist detectives working on this case who are also offering support to those families who may have had loved ones identified as being allegedly mistreated.'

"In May, Lancashire County Council's social care department made police aware of a complaint they had received about the level of care provided to some residents at the home."

After my "Do not resuscitate" post, a severely disabled friend wrote to me about her own experience
"I've been ill for most of the time for the last 3 years, and have spent all too much time in hospital.  The last time was in July 2012, and I came across a nurse with a sickly sweet voice, but who bullied me mercilessly.  She knew that if I swallowed tablets by mouth I would retch and/or be sick, but refused to use the canula, which had been put in (with much difficulty) on doctors' orders only the previous day.  She shouted at me, and refused to use the canula.  I became quite afraid of her.  I phoned my carer and he came immediately.  He managed to put her in her place while remaining entirely polite and calm, but it was a very unpleasant experience.  It made me think of the terrible predicament of those who have no one to stand up for them, or who cannot communicate, or are very elderly, perhaps with dementia. It is such a scary situation for all of us."

My friend is a lovely person who struggles with multiple disabling conditions with amazingly good grace. Yet even for her the sense of helplessness faced with insensitive caring was enough to scare her, and clearly not everyone is fortunate enough to have a competent advocate to call on in time of crisis. As a country, we really must heed the warning signs of a trend, despite Paralympic euphoria, of diminishing our regard for the disabled. Just over a month ago, there was great optimism that an irreversible change of attitude had taken place. If we are not vigilant, it will be more than reversed: disabled new borns and vulnerable elderly will be regarded as legitimately disposable. Then we will have entered a morally bankrupt "brave new world".

Sideways thoughts

I think I must be an addict. There's no other rational explanation for my enjoyment of the BBC programme, Waterloo Road. It's far from realistic. In case you don't know, it's basically a soap set, not in an East London square, but in a Rochdale comprehensive school. Never has there been a school where so many teachers have children in the school or so many affairs or with such a high turnover of headteachers; nor where teachers arrive and leave at the same time as pupils - in fact if you want to find out about schools it's the last place to look. But this last episode did have lessons germane to child benefits, or rather the crucial nature of investing in families - and I don't necessarily mean in monetary terms.

The Fisher family (the headteacher's), for example, is quite disfunctional. The parents are at loggerheads; one daughter has disappeared; the other daughter is in rebellion and the son is bullied and bulimic. But it doesn't end there, as other students get drawn in, of whom one, Vicki, is left homeless at the end of the episode. The parents are so absorbed in their work and their mutual antagonism that they are oblivious of the havoc they are causing in their children. And the point is that it is extends way beyond the nucleus of the immediate family. It's actually rather a good study of the complications of family life. Clearly there's more than enough income in the Fisher family for them not to need any benefits. Their problems are nothing to do with money, but to do with communication and relationships.

I must say it's good news that NICE has approved the use of drug treatment for the early stages of Alzheimers'. It's a welcome indication of investment in caring for those of us with incurable illnesses. In all the hoohah about public-sector pensions I suddenly had a sideways reflection on the economics of state pension provision, and that was this: the cost of palliative care for those with shortened life expectancy should be offset against the saving in an 25+ year pension bill. In an interview with Lord Hutton this morning, I heard the striking fact that the average life expectancy is 88. In other words, euthanasing the terminally ill can't be justified on economic grounds because we already save the exchequer.