Panorama programme on Institutional Abuse

Well then this is not new is it?

Disturbing as it was this is probably and very sadly it is only the tip of the iceberg. Now I know care companies very well. I know the industry and I know how the deal works. Recently I was representing someone in an Employment Tribunal. The employer, a large care company, had constructively dismissed the employee through bullying, harassment and psychological torture.

Needless to say I won the case but the way the company conducted itself just showed that if they can do this to an employee what are they capable of doing to client.

This ex employee was instructed by her manager, someone with no qualifications in health care, to leave a patient to soil herself and in distress rather than to try and help her. And this was just one example there are literally hundreds more.

Care companies in the UK are regulated by the CQC, an organisation that prefers to preen it's own feathers rather than get tough.

If you really want to stop abuse happening then the CQC should put undercover people into care companies not rely on inspections that are telegraphed sometimes weeks in advance and rely on looking at paperwork. Paperwork what a joke that is. Organisations have learned that audit trails exist and know how to cover things up. For goodness sake the Police and the Medical profession have been altering notes for years and this is well documented!

We need to be tough on organisations who abuse however when we are looking at the vast sums of money that are involved there will undoubtedly be large numbers of people willing to take that money and therefor abuse is more difficult to track down. We need to see that managers and care staff are properly trained and qualified. And the qualifications need to carry some weight not just be tick box training courses so that people can say "Ooh look I've got a certificate"