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Rest home caregiver's slap caught on hidden camera - despicable!

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Alicat
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« on: August 23, 2016, 09:53:38 am »

Rest home caregiver's slap caught on hidden camera


A hidden camera in a rest home room captured a caregiver slapping a man and manhandling him on his bed.

Piri Hemi, 86, has dementia, limited mobility and can't see or hear well, but that didn't stop a caregiver abusing the kindly grandfather.

Since the incident, Piri's horrified family have pulled him out of the Cascades facility in Hamilton, to be cared for at the family home in the city's northern Rototuna suburb.

Piri Hemi, 86, was slapped by a rest home caregiver, so now he lives with son Allan Hemi and his family.

Cascades – billed as the city's most luxurious retirement village – says it is shocked by the one-off incident and the caregiver has since resigned.

Police will decide whether to prosecute once an investigation is finished.

After viewing the family's covert video, Waikato District Health Board agreed with Piri's family that the footage was unacceptable, but it also said the camera breached the privacy of rest home workers and Piri himself.

The Hemi family reluctantly put Piri into a rest home when his care needs got too much for Piri's wife of 65 years, Betty, son Allan Hemi said.

Piri moved into The Cascades on February 3 for hospital-level care and the family visited daily.

After about three weeks, Piri stopped his characteristic singing and whistling, and wasn't talking, Allan said, then one day he put his hands over his head and said, "Don't hit me, I'm dumb."

The thought of what might be happening to his dad gave Allan nightmares.

"I was actually having dreams of seeing them doing real bad things to him ... Sometimes I didn't want to go to sleep."

Allan wasn't confident past concerns had been acted on, so the family put a motion-activated camera by Piri's bed in early April.

Many of the rest home workers were great, but about 7am on June 11, the camera caught a caregiver giving Piri an audible slap on the hip.

She also slapped repeatedly on his forehead and roughly moved him around the bed.

The footage came soon after Piri had fallen, denting a wall with his head, and the family were angry.

They took the video to Diane Rodger, general manager of care services for the Sanderson Group, which owns Cascades, and later met with the group owners.

On June 17 the family took Piri out of the home.

At one stage, Rodger told Allan that he, his wife Priscilla​ and his mum Betty were terrorising the staff, Allan said.

He said they had gone straight to staff, trying to follow up concerns, on several occasions because they felt they weren't being told the truth.

After 10 weeks, Allan doesn't feel like they're getting anywhere.

"We've talked to so many people and they just seem, yes, yes, okay, but nothing happens," he said.

"We thought we would do it properly, go through the proper channels. But nothing's happening ... I've had a gutsful."

Allan and Priscilla moved house so they'd have space for Piri and Betty to live with them and their three kids.

They also took on the demanding care responsibilities – but Piri is singing and whistling again.

"They stole his spirit at Cascades," Allan said.

THE REST HOME SAYS

In a written statement, Cascades and the Sanderson Group said: "It came as a big shock. One incident like this is one too many."

The family-owned company said the incident was a "one off" and the carer had resigned.

"Cascades has never had any complaints of staffing misconduct toward residents since opening over 10 years ago."


The caregiver involved had been employed at the home more than a year. Cascades said it had met twice with the Hemi family and offered to help organise Piri's care at home.

The rest home also "reviewed its systems and processes" and would up the frequency of spot task analyses, the statement said.

THE DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD SAYS

The care shown on the footage was unacceptable, senior planning manager Paul Keesing said.

He was not available for a phone interview but, in a written response, said there was no further action the health board could take against the caregiver because it hadn't been her employer.

"However, there are questions about The Cascades' timeliness of actions taken with the caregiver," he said.

The health board was also worried about the "covert surveillance".

It was installed "without facility permission, and most significantly without [Piri Hemi's] permission, as he was unable to give consent and had no legal representation," the response said.

"This was a breach of Mr Hemi's privacy and also that of The Cascades' staff delivering care without knowledge of the surveillance."

The health board investigated Cascades and has given the rest home a list of eight "corrective actions".

The Hemi family will be told once all eight are completed to the health board's satisfaction.

A complaint has also been made to the Health and Disability Commissioner but his office replied to inquiries with an email declining to comment.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT A FAMILY MEMBER

• Speak to the manager of the facility. If you feel uncomfortable, a free, independent Health and Disability advocate can help. Ring 0800 555 050.
• If you're not satisfied with the response, you can complain to the district health board, HealthCert or the Health and Disability Commissioner.
– Source: Waikato District Health Board


http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/83410824/Rest-home-caregivers-slap-caught-on-hidden-camera
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Alicat
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« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2016, 10:28:56 am »

In 2011 my Dad was terminally ill with metastatic cancer. He was 89 years old and although medically frail and dying, he still had his full mental state. Dad was an intelligent man - gentle and uncomplaining. Mum and Dad lived in Hawkes Bay. I'm a shift worker in Wellington so worked my 6 day shift rotation then drove straight up to Hastings after each rotation straight after working night shift staying there for the my 4 days off before returning home for my next lot of shifts. Mum was frail (although would not like anyone to say that). They had Carers coming into their home throughout the day to tend to Dad's needs and also to assist Mum (who was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and had a heart condition). Mum took care of Dad overnight as the Care Plan did not cover overnight care.

Late June 2011, Mum was admitted to hospital with chest pain while I was up there. I was unable to get time off work to stay in Hastings for a few extra days so the decision - an extremely difficult one - was made to place Dad in a rest home for one week for Respite Care. He could not be left alone overnight. The Hospice didn't have a bed so arrangements were made for Dad to be admitted to the rest home.

I am not going to publicly name the rest home facility.

Prior to Dad being admitted there, I visited the facility and spoke in detail with the Nurse Manager about Dad's condition and care needs. I also typed up what can only be described as a full Nursing Care Plan so as to make it easier on Dad - and on the staff. I was dubious about taking Dad there, but there was no choice. On the surface, things seemed okay there and the Nurse Manager was nice. The Nurse Manager checked the Nursing Plan I had put together (along with the medical not Dad's GP) and complimented me on my thorough paperwork. In addition, I took in enough food - soup, strawberry milk and Fortisip - to last Dad the entire stay. Dad could only tolerate strawberry flavoured Fortisip without vomiting. I had told the staff that as well as documenting it.

My brother and I took Dad to the home, waiting while he was settled in then left to go and visit Mum in hospital. After 2 hours, we returned to find that Dad had no water - despite us asking for a jug of water and glass to be left by his bed. I checked Dad's catheter and discovered that not only was it full of urine, but it was overflowing back up the tube. The staff were very much aware that Dad was catheterised. There was no excuse.

The next morning my brother and I visited Dad. He was in bed covered in vomit. They had given him another flavoured Fortisip from their own supply - completely ignoring what they had been told. He also had no water by his bed. I asked Dad if he had been given his medication. There was a new pill that he was to take for a few days so I asked if they had given him that. He said he didn't know as they had shoved all 14 tablets in his mouth at the same time. Dad had almost choked. He was already struggling with swallowing. There were a few other things they had not taken care of so I rang the bell. After waiting 20 minutes with no response to the bell, my brother and I went looking for the Registered Nurse (Dad was in the Hospital Wing). She was in the office on the phone having what I can only describe as a personal conversation. We waiting a further 10 minutes for her to get off the phone.

We had a meeting there and then when I raised my concerns. I used my 'quiet but pissed off' voice (believe me - no-one wants to be the recipient of that voice). I insisted the Nurse come back to Dad's room with us. The bell was still sounding and no-one had answered it. It was now 40 minutes since I had pressed it. The nursed went looking for the Carer and brought her into Dad's room. The Carer was clearly pissed off that I had complained and became very defensive. It ended up with me saying, "Dad is a very gentle non-complaining man. His daughter - on the other hand is a bitch!" The nurse assured me that everything would be sorted and there would not be a repetition of the sloppy care.

I drove back to Wellington in tears wondering what I had done to my Dad.

Dad was discharged from the rest home after 7 days with a urinary tract infection. This was no doubt due to the lack of care of his catheter. Dad developed pneumonia and died a week after being discharged from the rest home.

Dad was dying. He didn't want to still be alive. He had no dignity left and no quality of life. That aside, the rest home were solely responsible for Dad's rapid decline and subsequent death.

I waited for a few weeks after Dad's death, then wrote a formal letter of complaint to the General Manager of the rest home franchise. I included the Health and Disability Commission, the family GP, the Hospital Social Worker who had referred Dad to the rest home and the local MP. I wrote the letter after hearing of a number of other complaints about this very rest home. None of the others had written in or lodged a complaint as they were too upset to.
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Alicat
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« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2016, 10:41:50 am »

The Rest Home Manager rang me after receiving the letter. She told me she had cried when she read it. I told her I had cried when I wrote it!

She went on to say that this is the first complaint they had ever received, yet the letter I received from her to acknowledge receipt of my letter was clearly a templated one. I told her that I knew of a number of other complaints that relatives had had, yet they were too distraught to do anything about it.

The Manager then did one of the worst things she could of. She actually insisted on reading out a letter of praise from a family about the care of their relative. I quietly told her that this was about my Dad - NOT about someone else's relative.

There was a full investigation and there were several faults they found in their own staff and facility. I received a formal letter detailing their findings. I was satisfied with the changes they said they were making. I was however disappointed that the Manager stated in the letter that she was sorry that we were not happy with the level of care. That almost undid the apology. She ended the letter by saying it was a shame we were unable to meet in person. I wrote back saying that could be remedied as I would be in Hastings the following week naming the date and time that Mum and I would meet with her.

The meeting went well with both Mum and I quietly outlining how we felt about what had happened and how disappointed we had been. I also challenged the Manager on her insisting on reading out the letter praising them by another family. The Nurse Manager was in the meeting and looked horrified. I also suggested improvements of my own to their way of dealing with patients and families before standing up and hugging both the Manager and the Nurse Manager. Mum followed my lead and as we left that meeting, both Managers were crying. I think they were relieved as much as anything else as I think they were expecting a shouting match. That would never have happened - that is not how I handle situations.

The next day I was back in Wellington when Mum rang. She had just received a huge bouquet of flowers from the home. While still on the phone to her, there was a knock on the door - a huge bouquet for me too.

Sadly, a year later I was talking to a staff member there. She told me that things had not improved and there were still major issues in care.

Our Senior Citizens do not deserve this shoddy treatment.
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clint eastwood
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« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2016, 11:03:12 am »

I agree....my 84 year old mother is in a rest home.....the staff in the rest homes must be some of the lowest paid workers in NZ and doing a very demanding job...does it say something about the values in our society:Smiley
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2016, 11:48:35 am »


The government could legislate a wage increase for aged-care workers in the blink of an eye (hey, the current government has passed a huge proportion of their legislation under urgency), but they CHOOSE not to. So there you go, eh?
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clint eastwood
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« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2016, 02:20:06 pm »

Yup ..and the silence of the public ...(voters)...is deafening Roll Eyes

...could be seen as a downfall of democracy.....but what is the alternative Roll Eyes
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Alicat
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« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2016, 05:24:22 pm »

Caregiver charged over hidden camera slap


A caregiver caught on film mistreating a rest home patient has been charged with assault.

The family of Piri Hemi, 86, planted a hidden camera in his room at Hamilton retirement facility Cascades when they became worried about his care.

And news of the charges against a former rest home caregiver was a huge relief, his family said.

The caregiver involved resigned after the incident, Hamilton rest home facility Cascades said.

Police were investigating and on Tuesday, the day after Stuff published the family's story, police confirmed they had arrested a 23-year-old woman and charged her with common assault.

She is on bail and will appear in Hamilton District Court on Thursday.

The hidden camera footage caught a caregiver slapping Piri and manhandling him on his bed, about 7am on June 11.

Piri's family has since pulled him from the rest home, to live with son Allan Hemi and his family.

Police rang about 10.20pm on Monday to say charges had been laid, Allan's wife Priscilla said, and the family breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's the happiest I've been in a long time," she said.

"A lot of the anger and that burden of doubt has truly lifted off my shoulders... It's a sigh of relief that someone's actually been held accountable for the assault."

Cascades had earlier said in a statement that it was a huge shock to see the footage and the caregiver had since resigned.

She had been employed at the home for more than a year before the incident.

And the Waikato District Health Board had said the actions on the footage were unacceptable but the board didn't employ the caregiver and couldn't take further action against her.

The health board investigated Cascades and has given the rest home a list of eight "corrective actions".

The Hemi family will be told once all eight are completed to the health board's satisfaction.



http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/83469956/caregiver-charged-over-hidden-camera-slap
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Alicat
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« Reply #7 on: August 23, 2016, 05:26:12 pm »


The government could legislate a wage increase for aged-care workers in the blink of an eye (hey, the current government has passed a huge proportion of their legislation under urgency), but they CHOOSE not to. So there you go, eh?


Yes - the Government should. Health Care Assistants are paid a pittance and deserve much better. That said, that is no excuse for taking it out of the vulnerable aged people who are in their care.
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clint eastwood
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« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2016, 05:43:26 pm »

I agree, they are scum......and will probably only get the "wet bus ticket" treatment.. Shocked

..we are a very forgiving society Roll Eyes
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