Elderly home care failures breach human rights, report finds

Equality and Human Rights Commission says elderly people face unchecked ‘ageism’ from council-funded home care

Elderly people are being robbed, left hungry and unwashed and face unchecked “ageism” from council-funded care that is meant to let them live in their own homes, a report has found.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission report into home care, which is commissioned by local authorities to help people dress, wash, eat and take medicines, said there was evidence of a “systematic failure” across the country and that elderly people’s human rights were being breached.

The report which is partly based on the experiences of 1,200 older people, their friends and family, found examples of treatment that including cases of physical and financial abuse. Findings included carers neglecting tasks because councils paid for too little of their time. There was also a chronic disregard for older people’s privacy and a disregard for clients’ dignity when carrying out intimate tasks.

Some instances of care appeared to be less about neglect and more about cruelty. The commission reported some care workers placed food in “front of older deaf/blind people, but did not let them know it was there, or left it in an inaccessible place”.

There was also reporting of sporadic violence against the elderly and the infirm. “The cumulative impact on older people can be profoundly depressing and stressful: tears, frustration, expressions of a desire to die and feelings of being stripped of self-worth and dignity – much of which was avoidable,” the report said. It also recommended greater legal protection for older people after discovering the Human Rights Act does not cover all home care situations. The commission said councils were reducing carers’ hours, causing them to cut corners. Sometimes they were paid to spend as little as 15 minutes with individuals.

The National Pensioners Convention general secretary, Dot Gibson, said the report’s findings were shocking: “The social care system is in urgent need of reform from improving the pay, training and qualifications of staff to better regulation and monitoring of care providers.”

Ms Gibson said. Labour said it was “unacceptable for elderly people to be left for hours without food and drink or not to be properly cleaned”. Liz Kendall, Labour’s shadow minister for care and older people, said: “The government is cutting funding for older people’s social care by £1.3bn in real terms [in] this parliament. These cuts are pushing the system to breaking point. Eight out of 10 councils are now only providing care for those with substantial and critical needs, and 15 minute home visits are all too often becoming the norm.”

The government said it had ordered 250 immediate inspections of home care providers. The minister for care services, Paul Burstow said: “The EHCR’s report exposes the good, bad and ugly sides of care in peoples own homes. This government won’t tolerate poor care. I am determined to root out ageism and bad practice to drive up quality and dignity in care.”