19 dead due to "institutional abuse".

[Workingman]

Get that: "institutional abuse"! Not shoddy work practices, or poor management or accidents, but "institutional abuse". Cold-blooded and well thought-out abuse and with plans in place to hide that abuse.

And who pays, apart from the deceased and their families, oh, and the whistleblower?

Not Southern Cross, which operated the home and still operates others. Not the staff, many of whom have moved on to other homes. Not anyone from CQC, whose job it is to legislate for and inspect these homes. Nobody, apparently.

It is beyond time that the laws were changed so that homes, of whatever sort, are properly managed and operated, and when the system fails all of those within it pay. There should be something like corporate manslaughter for management and an independent council, similar to the GMC, to look at "striking off" those within the likes of the CQC/Social Services etc. who fail to maintain standards.

[TheOstrich]

Was it Southern Cross? I didn't hear that mentioned in the BBC News report, although I may have missed it .... Southern Cross were the company that very nearly went bust two years ago as they couldn't pay the rent due on the properties they used. There were a couple of residential homes in the Walsall area, local to me, where the plight of the residents was highlighted - would they be turfed out or not? Then it all seemed to go quiet as a news story .... if they are still in business, then they must have done some sort of deal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14102750

Of course, what it means is that proper care and support of residents has probably been the last thing on their minds for the last couple of years .... and so "institutional abuse" has been allowed to flourish unfettered.

[KateLMead]

The point is that the majority of the abusers are still working in the profession, I had just written about this subject on my Facebook.all those at the top are still in their jobs. Disgusting. Fire the damned lot from top to bottom, severely punish those who have been found to abuse the elderly and infirm ensuring that they never set foot in an old peoples home or establishment again. And take away the licence to practice from the owners stop the damnable cover ups.

[Workingman]

It is not only homes for the elderly it is happening in all sorts of homes: Children's homes, homes for the Mentally ill, Care in the Community, Foster homes......

Nobody at the top, the high earners, appears to have a clue....... And they always go unpunished even though regulation, monitoring and inspection is what they are paid to do.

Sod "lessons will be learned". Enough is enough! Andrea Sutcliffe of CQC should be the first to go, followed by a whole raft of others who should be banned from care for the rest of their days.

[Kaz]

They can dress it up and call it what they like, but in my opinion it is manslaughter at the very least

[KateLMead]

Yes true, manslaughter is too kind a name however, murder is more appropriate.
And doctors? Fiddling names and numbers of those likely to kick the bucket over the coming year for which they are rewarded £50.00 a head. With the instruction for ambulances not to take those on the death list to hospital.
We don't need concentration camps the councils and government have the means to dispose of the elderly, murder by a different name. Pathway is still alive and well.