On the 18th June, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) CEO, Angela Fitzgerald apologised at the health committee over standards of care at the nursing homes exposed by ‘RTE investigates’ two weeks ago.
I watched the Oireachtas committee coverage and was astounded by the discussion.
Certain words need careful use and with full understanding. Fitzgerald immediately directed her apology to the families, and the wider community, a glaring omission - she did not apologise to the victims.
This is striking, and indicates how unseen, hidden and viewed as not part of the dialogue, older people are in society.
If we do not speak to the victims, include the victims, or we assume that there is no point in apologising to them, this is ‘ageism’. A complete denial of their humanity. Disrespectful and degrading. Once we dehumanise a section of society we are lost. Who in the HSE and HIQA have directly apologised to the victims?
Is this the right apology even? Ms Fitzgerald says, “We know you feel you’ve been failed”.
Ms Fitzgerald, relatives do not feel they have been failed they know they have been failed. But even the word ‘failure’ is a cop out.
Even the higher transgression she apologised for, ‘a breach of Human Rights’ still does not ‘cut it’.
Ms Fitzgerald finally declares that HIQA has reported to the Gardai their ‘concerns on the ‘care deficits’ uncovered by RTE in the two nursing homes.
This suggests HIQA do think there are criminal acts to investigate.
Unfortunately, there is no criminal statue covering ‘care deficits’. It is, I believe, in the safeguarding of vulnerable adults legislation thàt has been languishing... somewhere...for years.
That’s how seriously this government takes the issues of elderly and vulnerable people’s safeguarding.
So, what exactly has HIQA reported to the Gardai?
What did we see? We saw physical, emotional, psychological, assaults and neglect.
Desperate situations of humiliation, degradation, annihilation, disrespect and more.
Attitudes of contempt, disregard and inhumanity. Residents were less than human.
The sad reality is this is not uncommon when older people reach a certain age.
Who is going to inspect the care given those living in the community under HSE support?
What Inhumanities are they subjected to?
leaving an older person sitting in urine and faeces at home because there is no care worker available?
A care worker being told she/he must do their job in half an hour, that is, help an old person out of bed in the morning, then give breakfast. Half an hour.
Leaving a vulnerable disabled person in their bed all day, except for someone coming in to change incontinent pads and give foodd.
Putting an older person to bed at 4:00pm because no one can come any later?
Knowing there’s an older person who sees nobody for the whole week, except the home help or the meals on wheels personnel?
If any of these actions were to take place within a nursing home setting, we would be calling these work practices abuse, neglect, harm and degrading. There would be an inquiry.
But it's all 'allowed' and no-one whistleblows. You are not protected under HSE care in the community.
We are simply not getting safeguarding right. I don’t think professionals even know what it is to abuse and neglect an older, disabled or vulnerable person.
Do all professionals and Heath Care assistants, at a very deep level, in their heart and soul, respect and value their clients?
Does our government value this vulnerable population? No, it does not. So please don’t come out and say how angry and how upset you are by the RTE programme.
Take the Farrelly report, about a severely disabled young person left in foster care to be abused for years. The inquiry report
took 7 years to complete, but we didn’t get the answers and there was no accountability.
We had a flurry of outrage, and it is now buried deeply and no more will be done. There will be no accountability. Many went to bed happy and relieved that night.
This government needs to do something and needs to do something fast. There is no good saying our health service is broken and throwing our hands in the air in despair.
I have been battling the injustice against disabled, sick and older people for years. I whistle blew in 2003 about abuse in a learning-disabled institution in Galway and the stalling of an inquiry.
The result of that was the McCoy report, begun in 1999 and made public in December 2007. We who cared, wanted a public inquiry, but that never happened. There was no accountability. Because the government didn’t want that. Too many skeletons in the cupboards there.
We must not give up our fight for safeguarding of those who are vulnerable, disabled, sick and old in society. We have never been good at caring for those who are on the margins. We need strong safeguarding legislation, and we need it now. For those who live in the community and those who are in residential care.
We must inspect every single nursing home in this country and do a better job. We must examine closely Hse/ private community care for safeguarding issues.
We cannot abandon our elders. They are to be respected, loved and safeguarded.
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