22.02.12
NHS and care staff face ‘code of conduct’ over elderly care
Nurses and care workers should sign a ‘code of conduct’ over their treatment of elderly patients, according to a letter signed by care minister Paul Burstow, his Labour shadow Liz Kendall, and an alliance of charities, trade unions, academics, medical royal colleges and the sector regulator the CQC.
The letter to the Daily Telegraph urges hospitals, care homes and other relevant institutions to agree a set of common care standards to prevent abuse and neglect and ensure patients are treated with dignity and respect.
It is suggested that care workers could eventually have such guidelines written into their contracts.
The NHS and care system have been shown to be failing far too many elderly people in numerous reports and exposes in recent years, leading the letter writers to say: “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.
“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.
“At times people have been refused treatment on grounds of age while others have been subject to unnecessary medication or restraints. This has to stop.”
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