The Edith Ellen Foundation

01/05/2022

09/04/2020

THis is going to happen when Care Staff are taking in people with the Virus form hospitals. However as Nadra Ahmed Chairman of the Care Council said this morning staff only have enough protective clothing for one and 1/2 days as at time and incurring extra costs a the NHS are exempt from VAT on their protective clothing, whilst the Care Sector is not!

Putting more financial pressure and with local Authorities not thinking through the consequences of placing people from hospitals with them still shedding the virus is not practical. With limited staff, and time, to be able to look after the residents they already have, it is not a recipe for saving lives, in either those receiving and delivering care.

Social care does not have the space or access to the equipment the Nhs, and will have limited have access to doctors and nurses in the commuity.

How many beds could be used in the old Cottage Hospitals which were previously closed down, as I presume the buildings in mothballs are still standing and have unused wards?

Either way Caring in care homes needs to be discussed as a matter of urgency of protection control; to start saving all people people lives, especially as care staff are not familiar with isolation practices.

A third of five of the deaths at Castletroy Residential Home in Luton, Bedfordshire had tested positive for Covid-19. Public Health England said the others have not been tested for coronavirus

04/04/2020

Absolutely outrageous. My personal views:
Ist point of call you don't send people out of hospital back to other vulnerable people in care homes, when they have been diagnosed with the Virus.
2nd You ensure that all care management and staff are tested and fully equipped with protected clothing which they dispose of at the end of each shift.
3rd You increase special organise special shopping for the care staff so that they don’t come straight out of a home where the virus is and go shopping with other people in the community
4th Really understand how this virus spreads and infects people and increased basic hygiene and best care nursing and care practices.
5th Don’t automatically assume people will die from this. They might have the virus but it is not the virus that always kills. It is the lack of care for underlying conditions that hastens an early death, so prevent those from increasing with diligence and a more caring approach.
6th Ensure those at end of life do not die alone and understand the benefits of giving end of life people drinks. Withdrawing fluids is not kind, it does not hasten people's deaths merely prolongs it. So be true to the standards of respect, kindness and compassion.
7th Be kind to yourselves and your colleagues. You are each other’s best friends so communicate and share your sorrow and your laughter together. Never fear you are alone we are all proud of you and supporting you all from our homes.
8th Now more, than ever, we all looking to you, when we can't care for our loved ones. Please use your own hearts and minds, and don’t be persuaded that all directives should be followed to the word.
9th Statistics are always basic on hypothetical models, and are often proved wrong, and as the NHS is founded on academic information supplied to the Corridors of Power. Common sense, shared up to date medical knowledge, good communication networks, and despite what is proclaimed Respect Compassion and Dignity for our older people is rarely factored in the current NHS and Social Care practices.
10th Now is the perfect opportunity for the UK to lead on bucking the trend of too many unnecessary deaths in our older community. There is no reason why they should have a lower quality of life than others if they are kept healthy. It is not about costs, it is about safe nursing care for everybody.

CARE homes are being told they should have “do not resuscitate” orders on every patient, it has been claimed.

04/04/2020

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3177974/NHS-forced-tell-doctors-water-dying-watchdog-fears-banned-care-pathway-use.html?fbclid=IwAR3FBNPfZVQtwUchMH6nv1rfIQVVFAu04EEIMAJGKA32bntzBlDRuTv_rpQ
I wholeheartedly agree with Professor Pullicino as his comments concerning the withdrawal of fluids as prolonging the death of people rather than hastening is well researched. I passionately am about a kinder way of delivering nursing and care and most absolutely believe in more understanding and caring best practices.
Kate

Another expert, Professor Patrick Pullicino, pictured, said he still regularly sees severely dehydrated patients on hospital wards despite he abolition of the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway last year.

05/03/2020

Unacceptable that a whole care group has gone under. In view of the loss of Southern Cross the CQC is required to assess the Market Intelligence and stability of care home groups to prevent this type of situation happening. Once again their failure to do so means they are not enforcing their own regulations. That means then there are no regulations and explains why we see so many people harmed in care services.

PENSIONERS were given less than two weeks to move out of their closing care home.

19/02/2020

I would like to say a big thank you to all those involved in organising the attendance of all the different Branches of Royal British Legion escorts, standards and representatives at the funeral of a RAF Veteran and his wife today.
Please would you also convey my gratitude to everyone who joined with this family for a very special goodbye, including other Veterans and the delegation of personnel from RAF Marham.
On a day of over whelming sadness you and your colleagues brought the respect both Mr and Mrs Wikie deserved, and gave the family comfort and kindness they so badly needed. Thank you. Kate

27/01/2020

Why are we are no longer able to make the fundamental changes
needed to influence the Nursing and Care culture

Since The Edith Ellen Foundation was conceived in 2013, it has asked the question: “Why has care stagnated over the last twenty years, and is not improving?”
Our aim was to use Kindness in Care Processes and Systems to provide the answers. Kindness is defined in the Oxford dictionary as generous friendly and considerate, and the Foundation defined Kindness as Best Practice Care for the whole person, physically, psychologically/emotionally, culturally, spiritually and socially.
As a charity, together with our partnerships in medicine science and therapy, we were seeking to introduce best practice nursing and care systems. We believed in helping everyone who is involved in the care of people, as we all have a role to play – residents, family, managers and staff, associated integrated care professionals, organisations and people in their local communities.
Over the years it has successfully supported many people, but the Foundation has finally admitted that alone we cannot change systems not wishing to change. It is with great sadness that the Charity is in the process of closing once our current obligations are completed and all the necessary requirements are put into place.
It would however be inconceivable if this Foundation closed without thanking all the people over the years that have supported us, including our own Trustees and Volunteers, who understood what we were about:- putting people at the heart of services and to influence a national standard of consistent leadership skills which delivers a safe, trusted, profitable and sustainable culture of care in all nursing and care services.

It would also be unthinkable to close, and not point out the need for a more influential organisation to start asking the questions which really matter to people delivering and receiving nursing and care. For them to do that before we completely lose sight of the pride of the UK, those nurses and care workers working on in the hope of a cultural change for the better for everyone.
Leading nursing and care services, charities and organisation seem reluctant to highlight why throwing money at healthcare doesn’t necessarily make the quality of healthcare better. But we would encourage them to truly discuss why nursing and care services are deluding themselves that nothing is wrong, when too many people are dying without safe care, supportive dignity, respect and kindness.
They are the ones who should be asking:
• Why-The UK, being one of the riches Countries in the world, is showing such a step backwards in the history of the UK standards of nursing and care, when it is operating a revolving door scenario between older people admitted to hospital from care system and returned without addressing the underlying cause of their ill-health? Does it worry them we are not only wasting money, but adding to the considerable costs of health and social care? This too frequently results in the closure of nursing and residential care homes.
• Is it right to blame our aging population for monopolising all care services, when in the main, large corporations, private care and local authorities are charging huge costs for milking the health care system dry without improving staff leadership, support, training or morale?
• Why- “Dementia” has become a blame label for which nursing and care might try to hide their ignorance of basic understanding and training in caring for people’s physical conditions and their trauma, pain, emotions and feelings?
• Why -Staff and families of older people in care, (and those with complex illnesses),have rightful concerns of fears and frustrations at cruel and abysmal care, but services are bullying them into keeping quiet about the neglect and abuse in the care sectors?
• Should people in care merely be viewed as commodities to be traded in for short term profits and in their assets, which could easily be extracted from frail and vulnerable people and their families?
• Why Dementia, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty are being wrongly assessed? Is it because, in the main, end of life care might be a more viable financial option for the NHS and Social Care services to deliver on?
• Why are we seeing the delivery of the Gold Standard Pathways falling sort of compassionate care and kindness and for many a distressing pathway towards end of life, especially their families?
• Why are we not finding the increasing number of deaths from pressure sores and sepsis unacceptable, when they are always avoidable with improved prevention and diagnosis?
• Why would it appear, in the main, residential care is achievable, but the finances, training and understanding to deliver rehabilitation, nursing, continued health or end of life care is not?
• Why are we tolerating such unthinkable levels of abysmal nursing and standards? Where Standards in services are noncompliant with Care Legislation, Regulations and Guidelines and where, out of sight behind closed doors, basic nursing and care needs, hydration and nutrition can be withdrawn more easily. Is it not resulting in the unnecessary premature deaths of people with Dementia and other health conditions?
The Foundation’s decision to close was not taken lightly, but with sadness. We recognised that, although we held the answers to turning care around and build cost effective systems and a kinder environment for everyone, to be engaged on a constant high level of emotion when you cannot change the outcomes, finally becomes too much for our Volunteers to tolerate.
Unfortunately, we cannot continue in the face of such an unbelievable vacuum between understanding of how care should be improved and staff being supported to provide consistent Best Practice Solutions. This is simply beyond the capacity our small organisation. For this we apologise to everyone currently receiving care and delivering outstanding nursing and care.
We cannot conclude this announcement without thanking our two Patrons, Margaret Countess of Mar and the “author of Behind Care Homes Door” – Adeline Dalley. Who along with the family of Lady Bader, recognised that Kindness was not just saying it, but showing people you really meant it. They were this Foundation’s inspiration and example in everything we aimed for and tried to achieve, and throughout we were truly grateful, not just for their constant understanding and support, but for their own valiant efforts to champion a better quality of life for people receiving care.
Now we can’t go on any further, but others can. We sincerely hope that they take up, and carry our Kindness in Care message to the forefront of all National Health and Social Care Agendas. They have a responsibility to pull together and start discussions on the true issues concerning nursing and care services, and to succeed where we failed – in a greater collaboration on improving key leadership performances and staff training and skills to guarantee everyone’s safety and proactive kinder care.
Kate Blake and the Trustees of the Edith Ellen Foundation.

12/12/2019

Double good result for one of our Veterans yesterday. Of the huge volume of complaints the GMC receive only 2000 are investigated and our complaint of Misconduct when conducting an Deprevation of Liberty Safeguards will be one of them. In addition we have been continously fighting to take him off the Gold Standard- the NHS replacement for the LPC. Today mainly thanks to the efforts of his son who has been been at his bedside everyday to feed and get him hydrated, he is currently being transfered to a care home for nursing care.

09/12/2019

On Wednesday 11th December the Edith Ellen Foundation will be at the London Offices of the GMC discusing the process of a complaint we have submitted against a doctor. They will be investigating our concerns, and we hope they feel our sustantial report provides sufficient evidence for this doctor's Misconduct and for this complaint to be refered to the Medical Practitioner's Tribunal.

21/11/2019

Blooming heck! A political but just heard Corbyn quoting my lines : "they do not want real change in this country as it is rigged in their favour"!! So Mr Corbyn as its time for real change perhaps you might like to talk to me about the NHS and Social Care before you throw cash at systems that did not work well before and wont change without decent leaders understanding how to manage themselves and staff relationships.
So please can someone twitter Mr Corbyn Kindness in Care for me?