Nursing home abuse

B.C. seniors' care homes remain safe from scrutiny, new documents show

Topics: 
Government transparency, Access to information, Health care, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
3

Sam Cooper – November 25, 2011

There have been 3,496 deaths in Vancouver Island care homes since 2008, but the health authority says it doesn’t have to reveal whether any of those cases involved negligent care or accidents.

That information — or rather lack of information — released to The Province after a four-month investigation into B.C.’s senior-care system is the latest example of just how opaque, unaccountable and vulnerable to abuse the system is.

Cornwall RN whistleblower was harassed

Topics: 
Harassment, Reprisals, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
4

Jesse McLean and Moira Welsh – November 17, 2011

Nursing home whistleblower law protects staff who tell their bosses or the ministry about problems in the home. But it does not protect staff who tell families about abuse. Even with protection, reporting a colleague can create irreparable damage to the whistleblower’s career.

That’s what happened to Diane Shay. In 2008, Shay, a nurse who works as a health and safety officer for the City of Cornwall, found out that a staff member abused a resident at Glen Stor Dun Lodge, a city-run nursing home.

City of Cornwall spent $301,569 on RN whistleblower case

Topics: 
Reprisals, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
4

City of Cornwall Media Release – November 17, 2011

Breakdown of costs.

In the interest of transparency, the City of Cornwall is releasing the expenses related to the recent Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decision, the Ministry of Health case and the matter involving Diane Shay. In total, the City spent $310,569.89.

The full breakdown of costs related to these matters is shown to the right.

Some of these costs date back to 2009, and the majority of the expenses have been covered in the 2010 and 2011 City budgets. Traditionally, the City budgets $100,000 annually for grievance and arbitration matters.

Nursing home residents abused

Topics: 
Regulatory oversight, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
4

Moira Welsh and Jesse McLean – November 17, 2011

Seniors in Ontario nursing homes are being beaten, neglected and even raped by the people hired to care for them, a Star investigation has found.

In one case, a helpless 71-year-old Toronto woman with advanced dementia was raped in her bed, allegedly by a male nurse identified months earlier by other staff at the home as someone who regularly disappeared on shift “without explanation.”

NY ombudsmen routinely exposed whistleblowers' identity

Topics: 
USA, Reprisals, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
3

Danny Hakim – November 11, 2011

For years, New York State has assured its employees who care for the developmentally disabled that there was a way they could confidentially report any concerns they had about the treatment of those in their care. And for years the state has been routinely breaking its promise.

The Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, the state agency that oversees thousands of group homes, has long employed a small number of ombudsmen around the state who, by law, are instructed to “receive and keep confidential any complaint” from parents, advocates and anyone else, including state employees.

Nurses' association praises court victory of whistle-blowing RN

Topics: 
Victories, Health care, Nursing home abuse, Professional ethics
Rating: 
4

Marion Zych – October 28, 2011

Members of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) say the outcome of a case involving a nurse who blew the whistle on an incident of resident abuse at a Cornwall nursing home is precedent setting and places the onus on home operators everywhere to ensure all allegations are thoroughly investigated and reported.

In the case, the City of Cornwall was fined for retaliating against an RN who pursued the matter at Glen Stor Dun Lodge after she became aware of it in May 2008.

Cornwall fined $15,000 for whistleblower reprisals

Topics: 
Reprisals, Victories, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
2

Cheryl Brink – October 28, 2011

Cornwall city pleaded guilty to retaliating against one of its employees and was slapped with a $15,000 fine in court on Thursday.

Both Cornwall and its human resources manager Robert Menagh were charged for slamming the whistleblower efforts of Diane Shay, a Glen Stor Dun Lodge worker, after an incident of abuse in May 2008.

The dark heart of Britain's care system

Topics: 
UK, Health care, Nursing home abuse
Rating: 
0
Eileen Chubb

Barbara Davies – July 13, 2011

Of all the incidents of abuse that Eileen Chubb has witnessed in Britain’s care homes for the elderly, one in particular stands out in her mind. A Dunkirk veteran suffering from chronic dementia had been left without pain relief for several hours in the home in Bromley, Kent, where she was working as a care assistant.

The old man’s catheter hadn’t been emptied and his urine was flowing back up into his bladder, placing him at severe risk of infection.

Foreign staff who blew whistle on abuse should be rewarded for their bravery

Topics: 
Nursing home abuse, Europe
Rating: 
0

Eithne Donnellan – June 9, 2011

DUBLIN—Those who spoke out risked not alone their jobs but also their right to be in this country.

Has anything much changed since Leas Cross? This was the question many began to ask yesterday following the revelation that serious allegations of abuse of elderly residents at another Dublin nursing home had not been acted upon for a considerable period.

Irish whistleblower legislation to be fast-tracked

Topics: 
Legislation, Nursing home abuse, Europe
Rating: 
0

Michael O'Regan and Marie O'Halloran – June 9, 2011

Proposed legislation to protect whistleblowers is be accelerated, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn told the Dáil today.

The Minister, who was taking the Order of Business on the Government’s behalf, was responding to questions about alleged physical and verbal abuse of elderly residents of the Rostrevor nursing home in south Dublin.

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