LAST week the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published a truly shocking report on the care of our elderly.
During unannounced inspections, officials visited 100 hospitals.
Of these, 20 failed to meet essential standards of care to such a degree that they were breaking the law.
The stories were appalling.
Desperate pensioners, ignored to the point they had to bang their bed rails or water jugs to attract attention.
Men and women forced to use a mobile commode because staff could not – or would not – take them to the lavatory.
An incontinent man left unwashed for 90 minutes.
Frail patients not helped with their meals or given water for up to 10 hours.
In some wards patients were so dehydrated they were put on saline drips, while in others curtains were not properly closed during medical examinations and genuine concerns dismissed – the list was endless.
And, what was missing?
Well, “kindness and compassion, which cost nothing,” according to the head of the CQC.
What’s more worrying is that we’d been warned.
In February, the Health Service Ombudsman reported that many elderly NHS patients were left hungry, unwashed and without medicine due to the “casual indifference of staff”.
How is it that our elders, who deserve our support and respect, can be so routinely neglected?
The CQC thinks that too many medical staff now focus on the task, rather than the patient who needs the care.
It’s tempting to recall Matron, that reassuring figure who used to direct nurses and wards, ensuring the highest standards and leadership.
And I think it’s this last point which holds the key, and the one hospitals should be judged on.
Patients can complain and often do.
But the elderly are particularly vulnerable as they tend to hate making a fuss or being singled out as trouble-makers.
Despite this report, it would be unjust of me not to praise the countless numbers of staff who work within the NHS and do a wonderful job.
I’d like to leave you with this thought.
A former commanding officer told me: “There are no bad soldiers, only bad officers.”