One afternoon at a day care centre…

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A CAUTIONARY TALE
This week ‘Dignity Ambassador’ Michael Parkinson condemned standards of care for the elderly in hospitals and care homes. Caroline Leigh (above), a local volunteer for Age Concern for six years, offers a cautionary tale to highlight the issue. ‘Over those years I have seen the nanny state burden workers with more and more paperwork and rules that seem to ­over-ride common sense,’ she warns

MRS Jones didn’t eat her bread today.” Pleasance was in her office filling in her reports. She was always there after lunch.
“Five people had the cottage pie and five people wanted the fish, but we only had four portions so Mrs Beddington couldn’t have any. She refused to have the quiche and salad alternative so I had to give her a refund. I’ll fill in the refund report, later.”
In the main room of the day centre people were sitting in the row of chairs against the long wall at the side. Two had frames, a few had walking sticks and one had crutches. It was very quiet.
Maisie and Dora were sitting side by side near the radiator.
“I had the cottage pie,” said Maisie. “It was quite nice. I used to put a dash of Worcestershire sauce in mine. Made it a bit tastier”.
Dora didn’t say anything. But Dora didn’t say anything very much any more – not since she had her stroke.
“Mrs Jones doesn’t look very well today,” said Maisie after a bit. Dora looked down the line to where Mrs Jones was sitting. She looked as if she was asleep. So did some of the others; but they often had a doze after lunch.
“That lady who came to talk to us this morning about falling down was quite nice,” said Maisie. “She kept saying ‘we’ – ‘We must be careful getting out of bed. We must go slowly. We don’t want to fall down and break any bones, do we?’ I don’t think she meant we. I think she only meant us, not her.”
Someone coughed and cleared their throat. Then it was quiet again.
Eventually Maisie said: “She had quite nice legs; and quite a short skirt. She wasn’t very tall, though. She wasn’t as tall as the one who came last week. She was very tall. And she didn’t say ‘we’, she said ‘you’. ‘If you cut yourself, you must wash the cut before you put a plaster on in case of infection’. I cut myself last month on the lock in the toilet. It’s sort of sharp underneath. I had to go to the office for a plaster. Pleasance was on the computer. ‘Just a minute’ she said. In the end she got up and got a plaster from the box. She was very nice and gentle. She’s got a lovely smile. ‘All right, Maisie,’ she said. ‘The coach will be here soon to take you home.’ Then she went back to her computer.”
A bit later Maisie said: “You’ve got a button off your cardigan Dora.”
Dora looked down and fingered the space where the button had been,
“Here’s your transport everybody,” said the  volunteer who helped them to the coach. “Here’s Frank.” Frank was the driver, slightly over-jolly but they liked him. He was always cheerful.
“Where’s Mrs Jones?" said Maisie, but nobody answered. “Goodbye Pleasance,” they called out as they left.
Some time later Pleasance walked through the deserted room to go to the toilet. Mrs Jones was on the floor.
The ambulance men were very nice. They said there was nothing she could have done. Pleasance wasn’t so sure. She always used to see them off before she had so many reports to do.
Why hadn’t the volunteer noticed that Mrs Jones wasn’t there? But then, she only arrived half an hour before they left so maybe she thought Mrs Jones hadn’t come today. Frank would have been too busy making his jokes to the ladies.
“There you are darling  – the apple of my eye you are – come on sweetheart, I’ll get your frame – are we going up the ’dilly tonight?”
The ladies loved it.
Frank hadn’t done the morning run so he wouldn’t know who was there. But Pleasance would have done if she’d seen them off as she used to. She went back to her office, wiping her eyes and clicked on the computer. At the top of the report it said: “Mrs Jones didn’t eat her bread today.”

This week Sir Michael Parkinson called for out-of-date stereotypes of older people to be banished in a personal account of his year as the country’s Dignity Ambassador. In his report, Sir Michael described some homes he had seen as ‘little more than waiting rooms for death’. He praised the people who inspired him and highlighted steps that would make a real difference to people’s lives. ‘Dignity in care needs to be everybody’s business,’ he says. ‘It’s not just about the government or nurses or carers. We can all make a difference.’ A new Dignity Action Day and £50,000 grant for innovative projects that encourage dignity in care were also announced by the government. The day of action is February 25. See www.dh.gov.uk