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Fears
over elderly mental health care BBC
online news, September
24, 2003 An
investigation into mistreatment of elderly mental health patients in
Manchester has condemned a hospital's "total management
failure".
It
said its findings raised fears about care standards across the UK. Manchester
Mental Health and Social Care Trust accepted the report made "grim
reading" and said it was trying to improve services to elderly people
in need of psychiatric care. The
investigation followed allegations last year of mental and physical abuse
against 10 patients on the ward. Acting
CHI chief Jocelyn Cornwell said: "The care received by vulnerable
older people on Rowan Ward was unacceptable, but we are seriously
concerned that circumstances surrounding this investigation are not
unique. "The
care of older people nationally is very concerning. "NHS
managers and commissioners should take a good look at this report and
ensure recommendations are embedded in their own services." Although
officials did not examine specific claims of abuse, the CHI said the
trust's nursing care was old-fashioned with a closed culture. One
example they used was that patients' clothing was changed and hygiene
needs addressed according to routine, rather when the need arose. Among
the complainants was Norma Chatt, whose mother Lucy Caline suffered
repeated black eyes while on Rowan ward. She
said she refused to believe that they were purely the result of her
mother's dementia. She
told BBC North West Today: "I will never ever believe that these
incidents involving my mum were accidental. "I
believe she was being abused." The
report makes a number of recommendations, including strengthening
management and leadership at every level of the trust and a need for the
health authority to monitor the quality of patient care. The
trust's chief executive Andrew Butters admitted the report was damning and
said the trust should have done more to prevent the abuse. He
said: "We should have become aware of it earlier. "The
standards of care on Rowan Ward were not acceptable and we have already
taken action to ensure that this does not happen again." He said
action included the closure of the ward and the relocation of patients to
a new site in Wythenshawe. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
The
Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) investigation said standards at
Withington Hospital's Rowan ward left patients open to abuse.