Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Care home staff'.
-
Content Article
My experience of speaking up as a healthcare assistant in a care home
Anonymous posted an article in By health and care staff
A frank account from a healthcare assistant on the bullying she experienced after raising concerns at the care home she worked in. I was employed as a healthcare assistant in a care home, where I worked for about three months. During this time, I found out that patient safety and quality of care were undermined by healthcare assistants, and the management and the nurses did not seem to realise it. Examples included: Carers were given a box of gloves each and they were expected to use them for up to two weeks. When asked for more gloves, the manager would check the last time they took a box of gloves and would question what they had done with the last ones they collected. In order to save the gloves, carers used one pair of gloves to deliver personal care to three to five residents before changing them. They would take the rest of the gloves home and bring them back to work in the next shift. Genital care was totally neglected. Residents’ genitals were not cleaned. I spoke to a nurse in another unit about this and all she said was she thought it was being done. When carrying out personal care to one lady, I found dried faeces wrapped in her pubic hair which took me a good number of minutes to clean. When I finally finished doing it, the lady pointed at her private part and said to me “it can breathe now” and when I asked why, she said “because it has been washed”. Infection control. One of the problems was that there was never any soap in the bathrooms and places where there were wash hand basins. So, after personal care, especially after caring for residents who had opened their bowels, we could only wash our hands with clear water. Hand sanitiser dispensers were hanging empty with no sanitising gel, so no opportunity for either visitors or staff to sanitise their hands whilst in the care home. Healthcare assistants apparently had no clue about catheter care, even those working at the nursing unit where there were a few residents that had catheters. I never saw any of them doing catheter care and one day when I was doing it, my colleague was really frightened, held my hand back and said I was going to pull the catheter out. Most of the times when residents opened their bowels, carers would either clean it very shallowly, or they would only take out the soiled pads and replace them with clean ones without cleaning the area at all. As such, when you took over the shift, during the first checks you would think that a resident had opened bowels but find out that the pad was dry and clean at that moment, but the faeces on it and on their skin was dried up. Oral and nail care was another issue. Carers never did oral care, and those who bothered to document would say “resident denied oral care”. Some of the residents’ beds were not functioning, especially in the nursing unit where most of the residents were bed-ridden. This meant that healthcare assistant staff had to bend and strain their backs each time they were giving personal care, which would lead to backaches. After trying to share my concerns on the above issues with three nurses to no avail, I was only left with the choice of talking to the management. I wrote a letter of observation, accompanied by some recommendations. I ended my letter by letting the management know that I was ready to discuss my concerns with them at any time. They did not call me up for any discussion. A change in behaviour... A few days later I started noticing a change of behaviour from all staff towards me. Most of them did not talk to me, many times I found out that people were whispering things about me as when they saw me approaching them they would stop talking. One unit reported that I was very slow, and I was never assigned to work there anymore. People ignored me when I tried to join in a conversation. Each time I was working, nobody would let me do personal care. I was only allowed to work as an assistant to fellow healthcare assistants. In some rooms where I went in first and started doing personal care, they would tell me that I was taking too much time. My opinion on anything did not count. One day when I came to work, there was a small problem which needed to be fixed between one of the nurses and myself, but she refused to listen to me and insisted that I should go back home. I went home as she had asked, and the next day I called and told the manager that I was sent home last night. He started blaming me based on what the nurse had told him, which was not true, without listening to my own side of the story. I insisted that he should call a meeting where he could listen to both of us, because what the nurse had said was untrue. His response to me was that I would need a reference from him so I should be careful about the way I did things. However, he finally accepted and we agreed on a date for the meeting. But when it came to the day of the meeting, the nurse was not there. I explained myself to my manager, in the presence of the secretary. His response to the letter I wrote with my concerns in was that he appreciated it, but he thought that the care home was not the right place for me, and that he thought that I was too qualified for the job. He suggested that everybody felt threatened with my presence. I told him that that it sounded to me like he wanted to remove me from my job; a job which I very much wanted to do. When I came back for the next shift, I discovered that my shift had been cancelled and I had been replaced by someone else. I spoke to a senior carer who called my manager and he told me that he was not expecting me to come to work because of what had happened the other night. I went back home. The next day he called and told me that after due consideration, he had decided to extend my probation time to a further three months, and that I should compose myself, come to work and do only what I was expected to do. Psychologically tortured As I continued working, things got worse each day. I experienced colleagues laughing at me, talking about me, not talking to me, ignoring me; the list could go on and on. I was psychologically tortured. I developed a violent headache. Each time I thought I was going back to work I felt sick, got palpitations, felt so hot as if I had fever, at times shivering, with painful nerves. I kept asking myself whether I was wrong to have done what I did. I did a lot of self-counselling and told myself that I was going to stay at the workplace if I was not dismissed. This was because I was planning to write more letters. I had only highlighted a few of the many issues in my first letter. My hope was that one day someone was going to understand me and things would improve. One night I stopped a colleague from putting a pad on a resident she had not cleaned properly. I cleaned the resident and did vaginal and catheter care, before putting on the pad. There was another resident who was very wet, from their pyjamas to the bedding; my colleague wanted us to only change the pad and let the resident lay with the wet clothes on the wet bed “since they were going to wash her in the morning anyway”. This was the 1am check, and I argued that I could not imagine her being able to fall asleep in that condition. We ended up changing the resident’s pyjamas and putting a towel and an extra pad on the bed to make her feel comfortable. Forced into resigning My colleague became angry with me. I was surprised because I had done nothing wrong. There was altercation and she confronted me. I couldn’t tell anyone as no one would believe me. I felt excluded and alone and the only thing that came to my mind was that I should resign. When I finished work in the morning I went and told my manager that I was resigning. He told me that I was expected to give two weeks’ notice and that I should write my resignation letter that day, which I did. He told me it was rather unfortunate that it hadn’t worked out for me in the care home… Did I do the right thing? What would you do?- Posted
- 4 comments
-
- Care home
- Care home staff
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content Article
Monitoring and responding to deterioration in social care settings is critical to providing safe, effective and responsive care. Front-line staff are pivotal for highlighting change to wider teams and managing low to medium risk individuals in their place of residence. However, there is a core set of principles that most systems use which may not be used by non-clinical staff in residential settings. This case study explores an intervention to empower non-clinical staff to take observations. The Whzan blue box contains a digital tablet and equipment to take temperature, pulse, oxygen saturation levels and blood pressure measurements. Staff were trained and supported on site to use the system and set up a digital platform to share measurements with wider teams. Staff fed back that they felt empowered and able to better engage in conversation with health care professionals, highlighting the importance of having a common language. This case study was submitted to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) by North East and North Cumbria ICB.- Posted
-
- Social care
- Staff support
- (and 6 more)
-
News Article
Scandal of care home sex predators free to target the vulnerable
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Predatory staff who target vulnerable adults in care homes are free to move jobs unchallenged, The Independent can reveal, as almost 10,000 incidents of sexual abuse have been recorded in the last three years. The fact that abusers can move from home to home emerged in an independent review sparked by complaints made three decades ago by the family of a man with learning disabilities. Clive Treacey was allegedly groomed and sexually abused at the age of 23 in a private care home in Cheshire and then moved to Staffordshire where his abuser was able to access him again, it was claimed. Both Mr Treacey and his alleged abuser have since died. His story was first reported by The Independent in 2021 and the review into his care – carried out by the most senior safeguarding expert in England Professor Michael Preston-Shoot and seen exclusively by this publication – showed huge failures in dealing with concerns raised by his family. It warned that vulnerable adults across the country could still be at risk of harm with no national guidance for officials on how to respond to allegations of abuse of adults by care home staff in positions of trust. Read full story Read the Discretionary Safeguarding Adults Review into Clive's case Source: The Independent, 18 April 2024- Posted
-
- Care home
- Patient harmed
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
Four carers who were convicted of abusing patients at a secure hospital have been given suspended sentences. An undercover BBC Panorama investigation showed patients being mocked by staff at Whorlton Hall in County Durham between 2018 and 2019. The four former staff, who are all men, were sentenced on Friday after being convicted by a jury last year. Judge Chris Smith said Whorlton Hall was an "unpredictable and inherently frightening place to live". The specialist hospital for people with complex needs was privately run by Cygnet, but funded by the NHS. It has since closed. Judge Smith said Whorlton Hall had a "malign culture" and was an "unpredictable and inherently frightening place to live." He added: "Each of you failed those patients and their families. It was a fundamental breach of trust." Read full story Source: BBC New, 20 January 2024- Posted
-
- Carer
- Care home staff
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Event
Couldn't care less: The permanent crisis of care
Sam posted an event in Community Calendar
untilWe all need care at some point in our lives. And as many as 8.8 million of us are already carers. Despite that, in just two years, the number of older people living with an unmet care need has risen by 19%. Why is our care system so neglected? Our care system was in crisis before the pandemic and remains in crisis now. It'll continue to be in crisis long after we're vaccinated against COVID-19. A system under stress, carers under pressure and those in need of care facing neglect. This is our new normal. Can nothing be done about this? Join our host, Claret Press publisher Katie Isbester PhD, and our three guests, as they grapple with the big issues that affect us all. They will talk with Professor of Sociology Dr Emma Dowling and the Director of UNICARE at UNI Global Union Mark Bergfeld, as well as acclaimed writer, with lived experience of care, Sarah Gray. Register- Posted
-
- Care home
- Community care facility
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
CQC issues warning about care home staff working with Covid
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Care watchdogs are investigating concerns that staff with Covid-19 have been working with care home residents as operators said absence levels are as high as 70% owing to sickness and self-isolation, increasing pressure to get staff back to work. The Care Quality Commission has ordered several councils to investigate allegations about the practice, which puts lives at risk, and possible breaches of the Care Act relating to abuse or neglect of residents. It is understood to be dealing with fewer than 10 cases. But the regulator has issued a warning to all care homes in England with the Department of Health and Social Care and council social services chiefs that “under no circumstances should staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of whether they are displaying symptoms or not, work in a care setting” until their self-isolation has ended. The Rights for Residents group said on Thursday it had been contacted by a carer whose boss had asked her to return to work only a few days after a positive test because of staff shortages. She refused and no longer works for the care home. In many homes, a quarter of staff are sick or self-isolating, with the ratio as high as 70% in some cases and operators are bringing in friends and family to try to cover shifts, said Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of the National Care Association. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 January 2021 -
News Article
Barnsley care agency 'recruitment procedures unsafe'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A care agency which left people "at risk of avoidable harm" by not ensuring staff had been properly trained has been put into special measures. Stars Social Support, which provides personal care to people living in their own home, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission earlier this year. Inspectors found safe recruitment procedures were not in place to make sure suitable staff were employed. A report following the inspection states that "safe recruitment procedures were not in place to ensure only staff suitable to work in the caring profession were employed." It said people's references had not been followed up after they had been requested, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The report added: "When the disclosure and barring service (DBS) identified concerns, a risk assessment had not been completed to assess staff suitability." Inspectors also found not all staff who provided care had received appropriate training or training updates to ensure they were competent. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 November 2020- Posted
-
- Care home staff
- Skills
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
Launch of PPE delivery system for care home staff hit by delays
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A planned Amazon-style delivery system for personal protective equipment to care workers will not be nationally available for at least another fortnight, the housing and communities secretary has told MPs, before weekly figures for deaths in care and nursing homes which are on course to rise by more than 2,000. Robert Jenrick told the housing, communities and local government select committee on Monday that the logistics system for PPE could take three more weeks to launch. Clipper Logistics was contracted by the government at the end of March and care home operators have been increasingly outspoken in their warnings that a lack of masks, aprons, gloves, gowns and face shields is causing the spread of the virus in their facilities and putting workers’ lives at risk. About 340 people a day have been dying in care homes of COVID-19, according to official figures. The largest private care home provider, HC-One, said on Monday that 703 of its residents had died across the UK while last week, Sam Monaghan, the chief executive of MHA, the largest charitable provider, warned: “Our residents and staff have not received the enhanced level of protection they need. The government will be held to account for this.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 May 2020- Posted
-
- Virus
- PPE (personal Protective Equipment)
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
Coronavirus: Care home staff struggling to get tests
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Care homes looking after thousands of vulnerable residents have said none of their staff has been tested for coronavirus. Out of 210 care providers spoken to by the BBC, 159 said none of their workers had had a test. BBC England spoke to care homes and companies across the country, who between them employ nearly 18,000 staff and have almost 13,000 residents. Many said they had seen no testing at all, while others have spoken of struggles to access official test centres after reporting online that they have symptoms. Some have told how staff face long journeys to test centres, with one reporting a three-hour round trip. On Sunday it was announced that the military will begin testing essential workers in mobile units operating at sites in "hard to reach" areas, including care homes. Anna Knight runs Harbour House Care Home on the Dorset coast and said getting enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing for coronavirus were her biggest challenges. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 April 2020 -
News Article
Coronavirus: Nearly 400 care groups 'face protection shortages'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost 400 care companies which provide home support across the UK have told the BBC they still do not have enough personal protective equipment (PPE). Without protection, providers say they may not be able to care for people awaiting hospital discharge. Of 481 providers, 381 (80%) said they did not have enough PPE to be able to support older and vulnerable people. The government said it was working "around the clock" to give the sector the equipment it needs. The BBC sent questions to the nearly 3,000 members of the UK Homecare Association. About a quarter of respondents said they have either run out of masks or have less than a week's supply left. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 April 2020- Posted
-
- Virus
- PPE (personal Protective Equipment)
- (and 2 more)
-
News Article
Somerset care home failed to notify health watchdog of deaths
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A residential care home failed to notify the health watchdog about the deaths of people they were providing a service to, its report has found. Kingdom House, in Norton Fitzwarren, run by Butterfields Home Services, was rated "requires improvement". The home cares for people with conditions such as autism. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the registered manager and provider lacked knowledge of regulations and how to meet them. Inspectors found the provider failed to notify the CQC about the deaths of people which occurred in the home, as required by Regulation 16 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The report also found people were at "increased risk" because the provider had not ensured staff had the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to provide people with safe care and treatment. Inspectors did, however, praise the "positive culture" at the home, that is "person-centred", and noted the provider was "passionate about their service and the people they cared for". Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 January 2020- Posted
-
- Care home staff
- Older People (over 65)
- (and 4 more)
-
Content Article
On the same day that the nation went into a second lockdown, the Government published revised guidance on Visiting Arrangements for Care Homes. Whereas previous versions of this guidance had adopted a more neutral approach, the steer from the Government is now clear; the expectation is for care homes to be facilitating visits wherever possible. This Bevan Brittan article looks at what the law says, what the new guidance says and what care homes should be doing.- Posted
-
- Care home
- Care home staff
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content Article
Coronavirus: 'I didn't want her dying on her own'
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
Siobhan Brammeld is a care worker at Massereene Manor care home in County Antrim and leads the social care team. She has sat with several residents as they passed away having contracted COVID-19. In this interview with BBC News NI she says she was convinced some residents had "died before their time". "I feel as though I am on autopilot - it never leaves my head. Sometimes I worry that I could have done more," she said. "These are sad times, scary times too," she added. Siobhan told BBC News that staff felt not enough was done to prepare them for the pandemic and that workers like her were left to the side. "I feel we were left on our own. We as workers were forgotten about as well as the wee residents," she said. "At the start of all this I just wanted to scream at somebody - could someone please come and help these wee residents? I just didn't want them to die before their time." "I watched what was happening in other countries and you knew it was coming, but there didn't seem to be an awful lot happening to prepare us." -
Content Article
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the first of what will be a regular series of insight documents intended to highlight COVID-19 related pressures on the sectors that CQC regulates. This document draws on information gathered through direct feedback from staff and people receiving care, regular data collection from services who provide care for people in their own homes, and insight from providers and partners. The information collected from these sources is being used to understand the wider impact of COVID-19, to share regular updates with local, regional, and national system partners and the Department of Health and Social Care, and to highlight any emerging trends and issues. This first insight document focuses on adult social care: reviewing data on outbreaks, deaths and availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), and in particular highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on staff wellbeing and the financial viability of adult social care services. It describes the need – now more acute than ever – for whole system working across different sectors to ensure safer care. It also outlines future areas of focus, including infection control both within and between services, how local systems are engaging social care organisations in the management of COVID-19, and how care for people from vulnerable groups is being managed through the crisis. -
Content Article
A 24/7 clinical tele-triage service for care homes in Wirral has resulted in an average 66% decrease in the number of NHS 111 calls and a 10% decrease in ambulance conveyances to A&E for care home residents. The service is delivered by all the area’s health and social care partners with funding support from the Innovation Agency. Care homes have been provided with iPads and secure nhs.net email addresses, and staff have been trained to take basic observations and equipped with blood pressure monitors, thermometers, urine dipsticks and oximeters. This page by the Academic Health Science Network includes a case study and a video demonstrating the triage in action- Posted
-
- Care home
- Accident and Emergency
- (and 8 more)
-
Content Article
The home care environment has a number of unique challenges for care providers, partially due to the high amount of variability between patients and their residences. It was identified that a mobile application used to coordinate some home care services in Alberta had opportunities for improvement in how patient specific safety critical information was provided to staff.- Posted
-
- Health and Care Apps
- Care home
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content Article
The Buurtzorg model of care, developed by a social enterprise in the Netherlands in 2006, involves small teams of nursing staff providing a range of personal, social and clinical care to people in their own homes in a particular neighbourhood. There’s an emphasis on one or two staff working with each individual and their informal carers to access all the resources available in their social networks and neighbourhood to support them to be more independent. The nursing teams have a flat management structure, working in ‘non-hierarchical self-managed' teams. This means they make all the clinical and operational decisions themselves. They can access support from a coach, whose focus is on enabling the team to learn to work constructively together, and a central back office. In 2017, a group of NHS and local government organisations in West Suffolk, who had joined forces in a project to support older people to live independently at home, initiated a test-and-learn of the Buurtzorg model. They recruited a team of nurses and assistant practitioners to provide health and social care to people in line with the principles of the Buurtzorg model. The King's Fund has been working with this team to support them to learn about their experiences as they go along. -
Content Article
Adverse events and poor health outcomes are continuing challenges for nursing home residents and staff. Research has shown that many resident harms are avoidable and may be caused by situations in which residents do not receive needed care, often called omissions of care. Omissions of care research in nursing home settings is limited and definitions of omissions of care vary. Therefore, the US Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a definition of omissions of care for nursing homes intended to be meaningful to stakeholders, including residents and caregivers, and actionable for research or improving quality of care. They developed the definition through a literature review and feedback from subject matter experts and stakeholders in the US. To develop and describe the definition, project staff produced an environmental scan and final report, including resources to help nursing homes operationalise and apply the definition of omissions of care. -
Content Article
A great initiative by East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust to reinforce the importance of basic checks to keep patients from harm when administering medicines.- Posted
-
- Care home staff
- Nurse
- (and 6 more)
-
Content Article
"It’s time to halt, take a break, and redraw the relationship between patient care and self-care. Self-care isn’t an optional luxury. It must sit at the heart of what we do, to ensure our teams can continue to rise to the challenges of working in the 21st century NHS, to give our patients the best of both ourselves, and the organisation so many of us are proud to be a part of." This editorial by Dr Michael Farquhar, published in Anaesthesia, explains the importance of taking breaks while on shift and ensuring a good sleep between shifts and the inextricable link between sleep and patient safety.- Posted
-
- Accident and Emergency
- Ambulance
-
(and 30 more)
Tagged with:
- Accident and Emergency
- Ambulance
- Care home
- Community care facility
- HDU / ICU
- Prison
- Operating theatre / recovery
- Mental health unit
- Hospital ward
- AHP
- Anaesthetist
- Care home staff
- Carer
- Doctor
- Nurse
- Paramedic
- Surgeon
- Social care staff
- Radiologist
- Physiotherapist
- Pharmacist
- Health and safety
- Fatigue / exhaustion
- Resilience
- Motivation
- Organisational culture
- Workforce management
- Process redesign
- Time management
- Case report
- Link analysis
- Workload analysis
-
Content Article
This report, from the International Long Term Care Policy Network, provides examples of the policy and practice measures that have been adopted internationally to prevent COVID-19 infections in care homes and to mitigate their impact. This is a 'live' document that will be updated regularly and expanded as more information becomes available.- Posted
-
- Care home
- Older People (over 65)
- (and 5 more)
-
Content Article
Carers UK: Coronavirus guidance
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice and useful resources
Carers UK's website sets out the current government guidance as it relates to carers and offers suggestions for making plans. They've also answered common questions many carers have been asking on their FAQ page and offer some tailored tips on keeping a positive frame of mind in their Wellbeing Action Plan. For recent updates to the benefits system, see their A-Z of changes to benefits, assessments and support – COVID-19.- Posted
-
- Virus
- Care home staff
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content Article
COVID-19: How to work safely in care homes
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Guidance
Government guidance for those working in care homes providing information on how to work safely during this period of sustained transmission of COVID-19.- Posted
-
- Infection control
- Virus
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content Article
This report from the AHSN Network shines light on ways we can do more to improve safety for residents of care homes. The publication showcases over 30 examples of projects delivered by England’s 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) and the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) which host them. They include case studies in medicines safety, dementia, monitoring and screening, and workforce development.- Posted
-
- Care home
- Care home staff
- (and 14 more)
-
Content Article
Urinary tract infection (UTI) was identified as the main reason to call a GP out-of-hours or to result in an unplanned admission to hospital from residential and nursing homes. Care home staff were using a urine dipstick to diagnose a urinary tract infection then calling a health care professional (HCP) for antibiotics, resulting in inappropriate use of antibiotics and over-treating what is perceived as a UTI in the absence of clinical symptoms. Eastern AHSN provided Quality Improvement (QI) coaching to the nurses employed by South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to work with residential and nursing homes across central Norfolk and Waveney to support the implementation of the checklist approach. The overarching aim was to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital from care homes. The Eastern AHSN believes this successful project is an easily replicable approach to the improved management or prevention of UTI and can directly impact by not only improving patient care with the added benefit of admission avoidance and reducing unnecessary clinical call outs. Successful results and benefits: At the time of writing, 700 staff from 104 care homes across Norfolk have been trained in the management and prevention of UTI and how to complete the UTI checklist. Unplanned emergency admissions have reduced by 22% and a reduction in antibiotic prescribing has been seen within this cohort of care homes. Staff reported increased confidence in the management and prevention of UTI. Data from the checklists highlighted that a lot of UTIs were related to catheter management and obtaining samples from the bag, which became increasingly preventable from the change in treatment. Care workers were assuming residents had an UTI, but after the teaching sessions they realised it may be dehydration that could present the same symptoms and commenced re-hydration. If an UTI is suspected then the staff were taught to initially think dehydration and to increase fluid intake then to reassess the patient prior to making call outs. Care homes are not now doing routine urine dipsticks or using urine dipsticks as a diagnostic test to diagnose UTI’s which has improved our diagnosis of UTI. Feedback from care homes and primary care has been very positive with one care home manager emailing to say: “The UTI checklist is definitely used at our nursing home and we have noticed a positive difference since we started. Thank you for your support.”- Posted
-
- Care home
- Care home staff
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with: