Dementia Services Leave Some Patients Locked Up 24 Hours

A disturbing picture of a fragmented and under-funded service for dementia sufferers in Scotland was revealed yesterday in a damning report which told how some patients are locked up 24 hours a day for years.

An undercover investigation by the mental welfare watchdog found significant discrepancies in the standard of care vulnerable people with dementia could expect.

In its report Older and Wiser, the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland singled out a “disappointing” effort by carers to provide stimulating activities for their patients and reported that of the 29 patient records studied, nine had not left their wards since admission.

Some of those patients who had not left their wards were admitted more than two years ago.

The report also outlined a worrying problem of under-staffing at mealtimes in the 16 hospital wards across the country it visited unannounced.

It said: “In seven of the wards visited it was reported that there were insufficient staff to help at meal times.

“One ward acknowledged that meals can go cold while staff try to attend to all of the patients.”

A table published in the report assessing the varying standards of care and supervision for dementia patients at meals showed that at the CC1 ward of Rosslynlee Hospital in Midlothian there were four staff to 12 patients, all of whom required intensive assistance.

Yet at the Gordon Villa ward of the Jubilee Hospital in Huntly, there were four staff to eight patients, of whom only four required supervision.

In the report, special mention was made to the fact hospital admission was often a distressing experience for an elderly or infirm person.

It said that while it was difficult to make a ward homely, “it can be done”.

However, the findings of the commission’s investigators were often at odds.

One who visited the Bayview Ward at Stratheden Hospital, Cupar, described in the report the “pleasant buzz of conversation and laughter in the sitting room from patients, staff and their visitors”.

But another spoke of an unidentified unit as being “totally bland, unstimulating and not dementia friendly”.

In general, the report said, the wards were “reasonably clean”, although in three wards they noted “unpleasant smells were apparent”.

The report said that Pavilion One in Ayrshire Central Hospital was “bleak, institutional and depressing”, while in contrast Ward 3 at Bonnybridge Hospital was described as “sensitively designed for dementia patients”.

Concern was also expressed at the lack of knowledge of good practice guidelines shown by many nurses.

The commissioner, Jamie Malcolm, said: “While adequate resources are essential, the quality of life for many of the patients we saw could be hugely improved by some small, inexpensive changes.”

Jim Jackson, the chief executive of Alzheimer Scotland, added: “The Mental Welfare Commission report reinforces the arguments put forward by Alzheimer Scotland for making dementia a national priority.

“People with dementia deserve dignity throughout their illness.”