Fit for purpose?

A recent post on the Bettercaring forum (http://www.bettercaring.com/community/forum.aspx?id=150) cannot fail to move all those that read it.

The author of the post, Lonestray, alleges the care home system for Alzheimer’s sufferers is “not fit for purpose” after witnessing the treatment his wife received some years ago.

Lonestray says his wife’s teeth were never cleaned, nor was she ever visited by a dentist. Her ears and nostrils were not properly cleaned, her nails were dirty, and she was pumped full of drugs.

Disillusioned and disgusted by her treatment and fearing his wife was heading for a premature death Lonestray took her out of the home and has cared for her himself for nearly five years. She was only given weeks to live in the nursing home.

While Lonestray and his wife were obviously failed by the carers in the nursing home, it should be noted that there are also many examples of Alzheimer’s sufferers receiving excellent residential care.

However, the point is that all Alzheimer’s sufferers in nursing homes should receive the same standards of care and not be reliant on the good fortune to have a good home in their local area and being able to afford its fees.

Standards in nursing and residential care homes are steadily getting better, so incidences like Lonestray’s should be declining, but there is still a lot of scope for improvement.

Lonestray has his own ideas on how care could be improved. For example, he recommends that Alzheimer’s patients receive one-on-one care from someone with a deep understanding of the condition.

It is these sorts of opinions that the government should listen closely to as they plot the future of social care and how it is funded in the coming months. If it is serious about providing dignity to older people, taking measures such as this would be a big step forward.