Care for old combined in the Regency Centre at Brighton hospital (From The Argus)

" the care for older people has never been so important." Should it not have ALWAYS been important? I remember all too well the wards for the elderly at Brighton General hospital, Care wasn't something the majority that worked there seemed to provided, A centre for elder care will be no different without nursing attitude changes. I live in hope but sadly with little faith.

Hmmm, I hope have they improved standards since the undercover BBC Panorama investigation there in 2005.

The people of Brighton have NOT forgotten!

From The Guardian, 21st July 2005:
"The hospital featured in a BBC undercover investigation into the mistreatment of elderly patients has no plans to discipline staff, it said today.

But the nurses' disciplinary body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, announced it has begun an investigation into whether any nurses have broken their professional code of conduct.

The chief executive of the Royal Sussex county hospital in Brighton, Peter Coles, apologised to patients and their families who received "poor care" on the ward and said he would be writing to them.

A BBC1 Panorama documentary screened last night showed secretly filmed material collected by an undercover nurse and reporter posing as a ward catering assistant, which exposed failings of care of elderly patients on an acute medical ward at the zero-rated hospital.

The Panorama programme revealed how an elderly patient was left to die on her own while others' requests for help from nurses were ignored and patients were left to sit in their own urine.

Mr Coles said he was going to study the programme in detail and seek further unseen film footage from the Panorama team "where the context of the episode is not clear".

In a statement, the hospital confirmed that the nursing sister in charge of the ward at the centre of allegations was moved from her job at the end of March following an internal inquiry into the care on the ward which began last November.

The inquiry was launched after "a significant number" of complaints from patients, relatives and staff about the standards of care on the acute medical ward.

The hospital has also implemented an action plan, which has included new rotas for nurses to ensure that there are enough staff on the wards and an extra nurse, who has also been employed. New protocols have also been introduced.

A hospital spokesman said that he believed most of the filming by Panorama had taken place towards the end of 2004 - the same time as the hospital investigation - and that there had been "dramatic improvements" on the ward since March. There were immediate no plans to discipline staff, he confirmed.

He said: "We aren't saying this didn't happen, but maybe it didn't happen as quite as portrayed by Panorama and it certainly isn't happening now."

The hospital criticised the undercover nurse, Margaret Haywood, and suggested that her actions may break her own professional code of conduct, although it had no plans to report her to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Older peoples' charities were dismayed at the allegations made in the Panorama programme.

The charity Action on Elder Abuse has written to the prime minister urging him to make the care and treatment of older people a government priority.

Its chief executive, Gary FitzGerald, said: " Two weeks ago we had a GP describing elderly people as 'crinkly old gits' and 'senile old bags of bones', and last night we saw how such attitudes are reflected in reality.

"We need urgent attention to be given to this scandal and we are now calling for a No10 summit to force this situation to change. It is only a commitment by government at that level that will make a difference."

Annie Stevenson, a senior policy advisor at Help the Aged, said: "The question we would ask now is how many more exposures of the situation have to be shown on our television screens before providers of care appreciate that respect and dignity cost nothing."

The director general of Age Concern, Gordon Lishman, said: "While these images are shocking, they will come as no surprise to many older people and their loved ones who have experienced similar treatment.

"Ingrained ageist attitudes often lead to older patients receiving second-class treatment. The government must do more to eliminate ageism in the health service. Steps have been taken, but this issue is far from being resolved."
"

Better late then never says I in resignation. Quite frankly, the whole hospital has a long way to go ... I still find that on the whole the caring culture and ethos at Sussex County is way below par.