McCarthy describes abuse at care homes as horrendous

10.01.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 13th Aug 2008

Alliance Health spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA

Alliance Health spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA has described the treatment of residents in care homes as horrendous following the revelations by two agency workers of the poor treatment of the elderly at old people's homes that they worked in. They claimed that staff would sometimes be asleep when they are meant to be on duty and incontinence pads were sometimes not changed for an entire day.

Kieran McCarthy said: "This treatment of elderly residents at these care homes are horrendous, it is totally unacceptable. The institutions where this abuse is claimed to have happened should be identified so that this abuse can be stopped.

"There must be investigations as to how staff members have been allowed to treat elderly residents this way. The claims by one of these two agency staff that she reported several other staff members who were sleeping on job, but that nothing had been done about it must call into question the management of these care homes.

"I supported the campaign by Help the Aged against elderly abuse and this is quite clearly abuse that must not be allowed to continue."

ENDS