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Public Nursing Homes not Properly Monitored

By: Carl O'Brien
The Irish Examiner, January 12, 1998

FEW groups are as vulnerable to mistreatment as older people.

A report commissioned by the Minister for Health in 1997 estimated that as many as 12,000 older Irish people were subjected to abuse such as being neglected or threatened.

The authors of the report called for the creation of a body which would be responsible for the protection of older people. 

Now, three years after the report was compiled, there is little sign any of the recommendations have been carried out, say social workers. But they have also recorded a more worrying observation: that there is virtually no monitoring of standards of care in publicly run nursing homes.

An estimated 3% of older people suffer mistreatment. However, legislation which enforces the rigorous inspection of care standards in private nursing homes does not apply to publicly run institutions, which house an estimated 10,000 older people.

Social workers have raised critical questions over this lack of scrutiny, but the Department of Health takes a different view. It says health boards do their best to provide the highest standard of care in these units and it is satisfied they are successful in this regard.

While the tug of war for the truth is played out, Anne O’Loughlin of the Irish Association for Social Workers says reporting of abuse is likely to go unreported without effective complaints and inspection procedures.
“If you want to root it out you have to make disclosure easy and create a system that has the confidence of patients, their relations and staff. These institutions are by their nature isolated and very few people go in and out of them, apart from relatives who are often afraid to make complaints,” she said.

In the absence of a system, older people must rely on the courage of nurses and staff to report abuse. But in doing so they run a risk of losing the jobs or being black listed by employers. Unlike whistle blowers in the area of child abuse, there is no protection for those who highlight mistreatment of the elderly or handicapped.

More than half those in institutions for the elderly are over the age of 80. This makes them especially vulnerable and dependant, Ms O’Loughlin said. She also warned that the increasing number of elderly in the population could facilitate abuse. By 2011 the numbers over the age of 55 are expected to have increased by 22%, which will have a knock on effect over time.
Abuse is most likely to be discovered by nurses or other professionals during routine visits. But without thorough inspection and complaints procedures, social workers say the likelihood of the elderly suffering abuse in institutions will continue.