Dementia patients receiving 'harrowing' home care, says Alzheimer's Society

Dementia patients are receiving “harrowing” examples of poor care in their own homes, with many being left in dirty clothes for days, going without food or water and forced to sleep in soiled sheets, a charity has warned.

Those living with the condition are being let down by the very people who are supposed to care for them due to a severe lack of training among home care workers, a new report by the Alzheimer’s Society has revealed.

The new report shines the spotlight on appalling examples of poor care including dementia patients spending hours on end in soiled clothing because carers are unable to calm their agitation enough to help them change.

Meanwhile, infections are going unnoticed and some people with the condition are being left to walk outside and into the middle of the road at night as their home was not left secure.

Other care failures have been highlighted in the report including: people not being supported to eat or drink, dementia patients not given a bath or shower for weeks and carers leaving sufferers to sleep in wet or soiled bed sheets.

The charity said it had also heard of examples of workers refusing care for someone with dementia because they felt “unprepared and helpless”.

As many as 400,000 dementia patients receive care in their homes but very few visiting care workers have been trained on how to reduce the impact of the condition, the report says.

The Alzheimer’s Society said that the “desperate” situation must be addressed urgently.

The charity said a lack of money in the care system impacts directly on the ability to provide care.

It said that when the public purse strings are tightened, one of the first things to be cut is training for workers, which is a “false economy”.

Every local authority should have a dementia training programme for care workers, with minimum training standards, the charity said.

The new report details “harrowing examples of poor home care due to a lack of knowledge”.

It is based on a survey of 1,200 people who are affected by dementia, a poll of more than 700 home care workers and Freedom of Information responses from 119 councils in England.

Carers, dementia sufferers and family members revealed the shocking examples of care as they were questioned.

And the survey of care workers, conducted in partnership with the union Unison, found that 38% had not received dementia training.

Two fifths had asked for more training to care for dementia patients but half of these requests have been turned down.

Only 2% of people affected by dementia said they believe home care workers were adequately trained.

The FOI requests revealed that 71% of local authorities do not include an allocation for training within their contracts for homecare.

The report concludes: “People with dementia are not being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Care scandals in hospitals and care homes have been well-publicised, yet unacceptable homecare practices are widespread and happen behind closed doors, hidden from public scrutiny.

“There is simply not enough money invested in the social care system.

“Homecare workers are crying out for more dementia training – without it their hands are tied behind their backs.

“From the scandals we have exposed, it is clear they are not fairly or adequately equipped with the skills they need to support vulnerable people with complex needs.

“We need the Government to support empowered and well-trained homecare workers who can transform dementia care in this country, allowing people to live independently and in their own homes for longer.”

Unison’s general secretary Dave Prentis added: “Homecare workers are dedicated to improving the lives of the people they look after.

“But they’re being let down by a system that’s faced savage cuts and by a Government that hasn’t invested in dementia training.

“Proper funding, not just for training but for the whole social care sector, needs to be made available as a matter of urgency.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “England now has one of the highest dementia diagnosis rates in the world – now we need to make sure that everyone gets the highest quality care and support.

“Over 100,000 social care workers have already received dementia awareness training. The Challenge makes clear that by 2020, we expect social care providers to provide appropriate training on dementia to all relevant staff.”

A £50 million Challenge Fund was announced in 2013 to help boost access to general practice and stimulate ways of primary care services provision.

The charity has set up a petition calling for the Government to “fix a broken homecare system”, which can be found at: www.alzheimers.org.uk/fixdementiacare

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