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Dignity Code demanded for the elderly in wake of abuse cases
NHS nurses and care workers should sign up to a code of conduct guaranteeing that elderly patients are treated with dignity and respect, an alliance of politicians, regulators and charities said yesterday.
Pensioners are being spoken down to, prevented from taking decisions, and denied privacy and the best medical treatment, they claimed.
The Dignity Code, launched by the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), sets out minimum standards for the dignified treatment of older people in hospital or the community.
Supporters include the Care Minister Paul Burstow and his Labour shadow Liz Kendall, Dame Jo Williams of the Care Quality commission and Peter Carter, of the Royal College of Nursing.
It urged hospitals, care homes and other institutions to agree a set of common standards of care for the first time to prevent cases of abuse and neglect.
Care workers could eventually have the guidelines written into their contracts.
The public is being asked to sign up to a petition calling for the code to be put in place.
Dot Gibson, general secretary of the NPC, said: “Every week we are struck by another headline which reveals the neglect and ill-treatment of older people either in their own home, a care home or hospital. This has got to stop.
“Much of what the Dignity Code calls for is to treat individuals as human beings rather than as second-class citizens who can have their wishes and feelings ignored and overlooked.
“Providing someone with personal dignity must be a basic requirement in any care setting – and there must be no excuse for denying someone their right to be treated with respect.
“The code should be seen in every GP surgery, social services department, hospital ward and nursing home.
“Individuals and their families should have confidence that certain practices will be unacceptable and that they can demand better treatment.
“This is the first step on the long road to getting 21st century care for Britain’s older patients.”
In a letter, 21 public figures who signed up to the code said that for too long many elderly people had been ignored and denied “the basic right to speak for themselves or make up their own mind”.
In this era of human rights, too many older people have seen their basic human dignity undermined in situations where they are treated as objects rather than people.”
The move follows a series of scandals involving the abuse of the elderly and disabled and comes at a time when funding of elderly care is under unprecedented scrutiny.
Around 400,000 people in England live in care homes while more than two million older people need care in some form.
Earlier this month MPs warned frail elderly people were being “passed like parcels” between different agencies.
The letter continued: “In extreme cases, there have been instances of abuse and neglect, but there are many examples of older people being spoken about as if they were not there, deprived of basic privacy or denied respect for their hygiene or personal appearance.”
The code calls on nurses and carers to obtain consent for treatments and also demands that elderly people be allowed to “speak for themselves” – either directly or through a friend or relation. It also says that older people should be addressed formally, rather than by their first name.
The petition is available to be signed by the public at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/27050.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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