This week I was talking to a member of the public who was
still reeling from having been barred from visiting their mother who was now
living in a care home.
Their mother had recently been diagnosed as having dementia
and had been relocated from hospital to a local care home.
The care home on the CQC website is rated as requiring
improvement and the CQC’s own report (published July 2017) had concerns
regarding the safety of the service.
Mr B (who I was speaking to) had raised a number of
concerns in the 8 weeks his mother had been living at the home, regarding his mother’s
care and had asked a few questions of the staff involved in her care.
Last week he received a notice (not a letter) from the
Manager of the home stating that he was no longer welcome on the premises or to
speak to staff working in the home. They
had essentially prevented him from visiting his own mother.
Mr B is allowed
to collect his mother on a Sunday so they can attend church together but he
must be escorted to her room and escorted of the premises, all whilst not being
able to even enter into common curtesy conversation…
Firstly, given that many homes are understaffed this doesn’t
appear to be a good use of resources.
I honestly cannot believe nor understand how in 2017 we are
still hearing about Relatives being banned from visiting their loved ones in
care homes across the UK, despite an increase in awareness not just of how
wrong this truly is but of how the standard of care could improve across the
care industry.
In 2016 the CQC (regulators of Care Services) published Visiting
Rights for Relatives to somehow prevent these care providers banning loved
ones yet somehow a tear later we are still learning of loved ones being prevent
from visiting.
So, you’re thinking how then with guidelines by the regulators
of Care Services that states Care Homes are people homes and their family and
friends should not live in fear of being penalised for raising concerns (as
quoted from Andrea Sutcliffe Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care) are relatives
still being barred from Care Homes across the country?
Our Chief Inspector of Adult Social
Care, Andrea Sutcliffe, said:
“Care homes are people’s homes. They,
their family and friends should not live in fear of being penalised for raising
concerns.”
In the letter received by Mr B it stated that the home and
the manager was invoking their Habitual and Vexatious Complainants Policy*. This apparently enabled the Manager to barred
Mr B from the premises.
They were kind enough to enclose a copy of their policy in
their notice, from the moment you start reading it raises concerns
*Extract from Policy
1.
INTRODUCTION
Habitually demanding or vexatious
complainants, and/or people who exhibit habitually demanding or vexatious behaviour,
are an increasing problem for [name of Service] staff.
Handling such people or complainants could place a strain on time and
resources and cause unacceptable stress for staff, who may need support in
difficult situations. The following
procedures set out the [Providers
Names] policy in dealing with such people or complainants. It must be stressed that the vast majority of
people who do come into contact with staff employed by [name of service] do not display such
behaviour. This procedure is for the
small minority who do. Execution of
these procedures would only take place in exceptional circumstances.
Having spoken to Mr B and taking the time to actually
listen I felt that this was an important point to make
Was Mr B being Gruff or was he experiencing Grief?
The Facts of the
matter:
Mr B’s mother was diagnosed with dementia 11 weeks ago, 3
weeks later she was transferred from hospital to a care home where she has now
been living for 8 weeks.
His mother is living in a service rated as Requires
Improvement by the CQC in their published report dated July 2017.
The CQC Inspector also had concerns regarding the Service
regarding its ability to provide Safe and Effective Care.
I spoke to Mr B about his complaints and concerns they did
not appear to be out of the ordinary nor did I think that they were unrealistic
or unreasonable:
i.
Mr
B’s mother’s movement sensor mat was in front of the TV in the room, whilst she
was sat on the opposite side of the room in a lazy chair – Mr B asked whether
or not it should be placed in front of her chair.
ii.
Mr
B’s water jug and cup was on a cabinet near the door – not in easy reach for Mr
B’s mother to easily hydrate herself – Mr B asked for it to placed on the table
next to his mother.
iii.
Mr
B’s mother’s teeth were in a glass in the en-suite not in her mother at 10am –
Mr B asked how his mother had managed to eat breakfast and the biscuits the
carer had apparently given her when she had no teeth in.
iv.
In
relation to iii. Mr B raised concerns over when his mother had last been fed or
able to eat.
My take on the
situation:
When I was talking to Mr B, I found he was still quite
tearful when discussing his mother. He
spoke so fondly of her and of his wishes for her.
In my experience I found Mr B still to be in the throughs
of grief. Grief does not begin at death. Grief is a natural
response to losing someone or something that's important to you. You may feel a
variety of emotions, like sadness or loneliness. And you might experience it
for a number of different reasons.
There are 5 stages to grief
o
denial,
o
anger,
o
bargaining,
o
depression
and acceptance are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live
with the one we lost
Mr B I felt was still in the initial stages denial and
anger. So, when dealing with the Care
Home he was being blunt in his discussion and it is important to remember that
in truth anger has no limits. It can extend not only to your friends, the
doctors, care professionals, your family, yourself and your loved.
However, instead of the Care Home supporting Mr B deal with
these emotions and providing him with time and comfort they impacted his grief
by barring him from visiting his mother.
Care Providers have a responsibility to both their service
users and to their families yet they appear ill-equipped and lack training in
the basics of grief.
Yes, we need to treat staff and the service with as much dignity
and respect as we can, but in turn respect is earnt and not a given.
None of Mr B’s concerns appeared to be Habitual and
Vexatious but the manager was still able to instigate the policy and prevent
him from visiting his mother.
If the staff or the manager had been better equipped to recognise
the signs of grief and deal with grief this banning and many others like it may
never have occurred. The failing here is
quite clearly the Home, the Service Provider and the Manager for not better
training their staff to be able to manager and deal with this natural set of
emotions.
I also personally feel that Mr B was well within his right
to question the safety of the home and to question its staff in their “care” of
his mother. An open relationship with
staff is best for your loved one.
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