As much as I love my blog and enjoy writing, sometimes I wish I don't have the material to blog about, just when I get accustomed to certain flaws, which is wrong to do, something happens and makes me realise there are so many wrongs in this world that go unnoticed or ignored.
The latest story is about 74 years old Lady who suffers from dementia, lives alone but gets daily care by a care agency. This lady has the same carer that goes to her everyday except Saturday, and so on that day the agency forgets to send a cover or a replacement and the elderly lady stays alone in the house looking for something to eat, does not know how to bath or toilet herself and of course does not take the medication she is on.
The regular carer complains and voices her concern but the office apologise and after all we are all humans and commit mistakes and forgetful!!! But this is repeated almost every week so human error is actually not an error but negligence and lack of care.
Imagine the vulnerability of the woman, or the fact that she goes for a whole day without food or medication, if people can place themselves in her or in the position of all the cases I have written about only then will better care service be provided. People who make laws, regulations, control health and social care need to imagine being that person in need of the service or think that it could be them in need of help only then the treatment that will be on offer will be of a high class.
Thursday 31 May 2012
Monday 7 May 2012
Streets or world apart?
Two days ago there was a report in my local newspaper about how a child had outgrown his wheelchair and his parents could not afford the 18 thousand wheelchair he needed so his community raised the money and and the little boy was able to go out again. Such a tale gives hope and a warming feeling inside each one of us regardless of our ability, we all could be that little boy or his parents. It is a fact that every person blocks out or dismiss but eventually all will need to be cared or looked after if not for life then for a brief period, no one is exempt from getting old, ill, or in need of help but we all forget that we are just vulnerable humans, the strength and ability one has could be lost in a second, this is something that people need to always remember.
Ironically in the same area but different street a friend of mine, an adult I may add, had her wheelchair stolen from the front door of her house, by a local teenager well known to the neighbours and police for that matter, luckily the wheelchair was eventually found but at what cost? and what are the consequences?
The boy is a minor so although he does this often he can't be imprisoned and if my friend presses charges what will he get at most warning and where will that leave her? she could make an enemy of him, increasing the likelihood of another attack. Even the police did not entertain the idea and offered an alternative option, to bring the boy to my friend's house to apologise on the ground that 'if they see the state that my friend is in the boy will think twice before he attempt such a thing' What a nonsense! The boy must have known my friend because they live on the same street, he must have seen her return from hospital park her wheelchair then took it, he must have also seen the state of the wheelchair, a very worn out old type of wheelchair, if all of these facts did not stop him in the first place why would seeing her at home make him guilty or remorseful?
Unfortunately my friend has no choice, she is happy that her wheelchair is back and does not want any further troubles and desperate to forget the whole ordeal, to be mugged is a bad enough concept, the idea of a stranger taking something precious of yours and you are not strong enough to stop them is self destroying but to have what could be best described as your 'legs' or your 'pass' into the active word, taken off you from within your safety net is a situation that is horrendous beyond words. How can one feel safe again? and how do you trust your community?
Many people will not realise the importance and connection a person has with its wheelchair, it is more than wheels that allows you to move or participate in the outside world, it is your key to freedom, your companion, your legs,an important aspect of life that has a special bond which is hard to break, it is almost like part of your body and to have it stolen or broken makes the person feel more vulnerable and weak than anyone can envisage.
I end the blog none the wiser, how can the same area experience two contrasting situation, how at a time of economical recession people manage to donate a wheelchair costing 18 thousand pounds to a young boy and at the same time a teenage boy steals an old worn out wheelchair from a young adult? Do I expect too much from the world? does bad behaviour have to exist alongside good one? is this a fair balance? I honestly don't know, but I do believe if everyone thought for a second that this could be me one day then all our behaviours would be so different, if that young boy had imagined for a second he could be my friend would he have still stolen the wheelchair? if the police had imagined this is them or a member of their family would they have been happy and satisfied with an apology? As long as we lack empathy and compassion this injustice will carry on and continue to flourish.
Ironically in the same area but different street a friend of mine, an adult I may add, had her wheelchair stolen from the front door of her house, by a local teenager well known to the neighbours and police for that matter, luckily the wheelchair was eventually found but at what cost? and what are the consequences?
The boy is a minor so although he does this often he can't be imprisoned and if my friend presses charges what will he get at most warning and where will that leave her? she could make an enemy of him, increasing the likelihood of another attack. Even the police did not entertain the idea and offered an alternative option, to bring the boy to my friend's house to apologise on the ground that 'if they see the state that my friend is in the boy will think twice before he attempt such a thing' What a nonsense! The boy must have known my friend because they live on the same street, he must have seen her return from hospital park her wheelchair then took it, he must have also seen the state of the wheelchair, a very worn out old type of wheelchair, if all of these facts did not stop him in the first place why would seeing her at home make him guilty or remorseful?
Unfortunately my friend has no choice, she is happy that her wheelchair is back and does not want any further troubles and desperate to forget the whole ordeal, to be mugged is a bad enough concept, the idea of a stranger taking something precious of yours and you are not strong enough to stop them is self destroying but to have what could be best described as your 'legs' or your 'pass' into the active word, taken off you from within your safety net is a situation that is horrendous beyond words. How can one feel safe again? and how do you trust your community?
Many people will not realise the importance and connection a person has with its wheelchair, it is more than wheels that allows you to move or participate in the outside world, it is your key to freedom, your companion, your legs,an important aspect of life that has a special bond which is hard to break, it is almost like part of your body and to have it stolen or broken makes the person feel more vulnerable and weak than anyone can envisage.
I end the blog none the wiser, how can the same area experience two contrasting situation, how at a time of economical recession people manage to donate a wheelchair costing 18 thousand pounds to a young boy and at the same time a teenage boy steals an old worn out wheelchair from a young adult? Do I expect too much from the world? does bad behaviour have to exist alongside good one? is this a fair balance? I honestly don't know, but I do believe if everyone thought for a second that this could be me one day then all our behaviours would be so different, if that young boy had imagined for a second he could be my friend would he have still stolen the wheelchair? if the police had imagined this is them or a member of their family would they have been happy and satisfied with an apology? As long as we lack empathy and compassion this injustice will carry on and continue to flourish.
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