Some doctors believe sufferers 'don't suffer pain in the same way' Nurse found by researchers reprimanding elderly dementia sufferer for losing more weight <\/p>\n
By Sophie Borland <\/p>\n
Last updated at 11:29 PM on 27th February 2012 <\/p>\n
Doctors and nurses caring for dementia patients often \u2018make it up as they go along\u2019 because they have no idea how to treat them, a study has revealed. <\/p>\n
The shaming research lifts the lid on attitudes to dealing with vulnerable patients and reports a series of disturbing admissions about how little regard some health professionals have for those suffering in later life. <\/p>\n
One consultant admitted to using a \u2018veterinary approach\u2019 towards the sick. <\/p>\n
Shaming: The report on dementia care exposes doctors' attitudes to the elderly and is based on lengthy interviews with medics in Nottingham (picture posed by models) <\/p>\n
Another said dementia patients are \u2018hugely sapping of our scarce resources\u2019 as \u2018they can\u2019t do anything for themselves\u2019. <\/p>\n
Others have disclosed that, although many of their patients have dementia, they have not \u2018ever, ever had any teaching\u2019 in how to properly look after them. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some even believed that people with dementia do not suffer pain in the same way as those without the condition. <\/p>\n
The candid admissions have been made to academics undertaking an extensive study on attitudes of hospital staff towards the elderly with dementia. <\/p>\n
On one occasion, researchers watched in horror as an old man was reduced to tears by a nurse who reprimanded him for losing too much weight. <\/p>\n
Over the past three years, Professor John Gladman and his colleagues at Nottingham University have carried out lengthy interviews with 60 doctors, nurses and other staff at the Queen\u2019s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital. <\/p>\n
Their findings have been presented to the authors of a major joint report to be published tomorrow by the NHS Confederation, Age UK and the Local Government Association. <\/p>\n
It will demand that patients are treated with respect, in line with the Mail\u2019s Dignity for the Elderly campaign. <\/p>\n
One consultant admitted during an interview: \u2018Sometimes you\u2019re more veterinary in your approach. <\/p>\n
\u2018And then you perhaps may not be treating them in the same way as someone else that you can talk to.\u2019 <\/p>\n
In another of the interviews \u2013 which each lasted 40 minutes \u2013 a consultant said that dementia patients \u2018can\u2019t do anything for themselves. They won\u2019t feed themselves, they can\u2019t get out of bed themselves, you can\u2019t be sure they\u2019re drinking, they\u2019re often incontinent. <\/p>\n
\u2018The more of that patient group you have, the less care the others are going to get. They are hugely sapping of our scarce resources.\u2019 <\/p>\n
The researchers, who began their study in 2008 and will publish it in full later this year, also made detailed notes on how patients were being looked after on wards. <\/p>\n
On one occasion, they saw an elderly man with dementia in tears being \u2018reprimanded\u2019 by a nurse for losing more weight. <\/p>\n
The researchers wrote: \u2018He is agitated and frightened, crying with tears down his face. <\/p>\n
\u2018Not one member of staff offers any comfort or reassurance. The staff nurse tuts and reprimands him for losing more weight.\u2019 <\/p>\n
They also interviewed a young woman whose grandmother was in hospital, who said: \u2018We were told by the doctor that people with dementia don\u2019t feel pain as much as somebody who hasn\u2019t got dementia.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Professor Gladman, who specialises in care of the elderly, said most of the staff had not been trained to look after dementia sufferers and often \u2018make it up as they go along\u2019. <\/p>\n
But he added that figures show half of patients in hospital over the age of 70 have dementia and half of those who fracture their hip have the illness. <\/p>\n
Care: Doctors often simply 'make it up as they go along' - and one doctor admitted taking a 'veterinary approach' towards the sick (picture posed by model) <\/p>\n
\u2018Some people said they had never had any training at all,\u2019 said Professor Gladman. \u2018People said they knew the causes of dementia \u2013 they could tell you microscopic changes that happen to patients \u2013 but they didn\u2019t know what to do. They sort of make it up as they go along.\u2019 <\/p>\n
He added: \u2018The only people who said they were confident had not had training but had experience elsewhere \u2013 [they had] worked in a care home or looked after their own parents or grandparents.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Although the study involved staff in only two hospitals in Nottingham, Professor Gladman said he believes the problems they identified exist across the NHS. <\/p>\n
He said that although increasing numbers of patients going to hospital would have dementia in the future \u2013 because of the UK\u2019s ageing population \u2013 the NHS \u2018hasn\u2019t really got to grips with the problem\u2019. \u2018The system isn\u2019t prepared for the job it\u2019s got to do,\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n
The Mail has consistently called for an improvement in the treatment of older patients as part of our Dignity for the Elderly campaign. <\/p>\n
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: \u2018It brings shame on the NHS that a consultant can say, in the course of this research, that he avoids talking to dementia patients. <\/p>\n
\u2018Dementia patients need to be treated with dignity and respect. <\/p>\n
\u2018But people contacting us tell us about dementia patients that are being ignored by clinicians, and who they feel are being treated as second-class citizens. <\/p>\n
\u2018It brings shame on our society that so many elderly people, with and without dementia, are treated so poorly in our hospitals.\u2019 <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
See more here: Some doctors believe sufferers 'don't suffer pain in the same way' Nurse found by researchers reprimanding elderly dementia sufferer for losing more weight By Sophie Borland Last updated at 11:29 PM on 27th February 2012 Doctors and nurses caring for dementia patients often \u2018make it up as they go along\u2019 because they have no idea how to treat them, a study has revealed. The shaming research lifts the lid on attitudes to dealing with vulnerable patients and reports a series of disturbing admissions about how little regard some health professionals have for those suffering in later life. One consultant admitted to using a \u2018veterinary approach\u2019 towards the sick. Continue reading
\nDoctors 'acting like vets with dementia patients': Damning report reveals communication failure of medical staff<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"