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RICHMOND WATCHDOG OPEN FORUM
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| Subject: Money for old folk |
Author: Charles W. Bevan
Date: 10/10/2001 3:47 pm WEDT
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Millionaire Mr Chai Patel is a Blair befriender and Chief Executive of a company called Westminster Healthcare, the third largest provider in this country of "care" for the elderly. By an extraordinary coincidence, Mr Patel is also in the fortunate position of being on the Government's Regulatory Task Force that oversees the elderly-care industry and on the Action Task Force that sets NHS policy for that industry. It was on Mr Patel's recommendation that the government decided the elderly should be discharged from geriatric hospital wards and put into homes - such as those run his own company Westminster Healthcare. This guarantees Chai Patel a steady flow of clients - for Lynde House, for example, in Twickenham, a five-star home for the elderly promising 24 hour nursing care.
Having secured its lucrative market, Westminster Healthcare takes a minimum of £90 a day from these vulnerable patients, thats at least £630 per patient per week. So what do the elderly get for the expenditure of their life-time's savings and achievements? Certainly not five star 24 hour nursing care. No, according to distressed relatives, they get neglect, suffering, poor hygiene, rough treatment and sometimes much worse.
The shocking truth behind the doors of the Twickenham home is starting to come out, thanks to some of the relatives who have begun to realise that each one of them is not alone in their experiences of Lynde House. Isolated in their grief, they had been led to believe by the company that their complaints were unreasonable, actionable, that if they continued to complain their vulnerable residents would suffer reprisals or, worse still, the relatives would be banned from visiting them. As the relatives were justifiably afraid that the frail residents were likely to suffer even more if they didn't get regular visits from someone caring, they would put up and shut up. That is until now.
Bravely they have banded together and presented about 20 cases to Dr Vincent Cable, the Twickenham Member of Parliament, and local members of the clergy.
There is a website containing some of the relatives' harrowing testimonies and a verbatim transcript of a public meeting held in Twickenham to discuss this on 4th October.
http://212.126.144.61/whcare/
It makes very disturbing reading, this is happening in our very midst, under the control of Kingston and Richmond Health Authority and Social Services at Richmond Council. The elderly residents whose sufferings are described, are now, in the main, dead, or they have been removed from the home. So great is the fear, those with relatives still resident do not feel free to speak out.
This is the unacceptable face of the Government-blessed for-profit industry in elderly health care. Is it the future too? Railtrack also put profit before public service and safety. It is chilling to contemplate how much greater the opportunities are for Chai Patel to reap rewards in the elderly care sector.
There are 89 other Westminster Healthcare homes. It's also happening at the Beaumont in Wimbledon - and in Harrogate and at other homes in the Westmister Healthcare group? I find this deeply disturbing.
http://212.126.144.61/whcare/
Do read the account of the meeeting. And remember you heard it here first.
My mother-in-law was in Lynde house.
Charles W. Bevan |
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Money for old folk |
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Charles W. Bevan |
10/10/2001 3:47 pm WEDT |
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R H |
10/11/2001 10:09 am WEDT |
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Joanna Howell |
10/12/2001 11:04 am WEDT |
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Roger Bolton |
10/12/2001 11:07 am WEDT |
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Maura Brennan |
10/12/2001 11:08 am WEDT |
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Charles W. Bevan |
10/14/2001 4:47 pm WEDT |
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Alun Wyn Jones |
10/15/2001 8:54 am WEDT |
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