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Care home staff suspended in Scottish Borders

12 January 2012

Five staff members have been suspended at a specialist unit for dementia sufferers after allegations of physical and verbal abuse.
Two staff were suspended after an alleged incident involving a 72-year-old resident on Christmas Eve.
Since the initial suspensions, another three employees have been suspended after other claims came to light at the facility.
Campaigns and Communications Manager, Lindsay Scott, said:
"The allegations surrounding abuse at Craw Wood home in Tweedbank are obviously very disturbing to us and no doubt to older people across the Borders and we are pleased that action is underway to tackle and address the issues raised. "Working with dementia sufferers is a difficult task, requiring not just intensive training but also a caring and empathetic approach to other people. So the fact that this alleged verbal and physical abuse happened in what is termed a "specialist home for dementia sufferers" gives genuine cause for concern.
"However, it must be pointed out that the vast majority of Scotland's care establishments deliver a satisfactory to excellent service and while the quality of care, support and staffing at Craw Wood were all described as "weak" by the Care Inspectorate, incidents of this nature are the exception rather than the rule.
"If they suspect abuse, care residents and family members of someone being cared for should immediately contact their local social work department and say that they want to talk about an adult protection referral. Scotland is the only UK nation that has legislation under which adult protection services are provided and local authorities have a statutory duty to respond.
"Abuse is a multi-faceted act; it can be physical, emotional, psychological, discriminatory, financial, sexual, institutional or simple neglect. Furthermore, abusive behaviour is often subtle, not always obvious to people outside of the immediate situation and so reporting abuse is not always as straightforward as might be assumed.
"That's why it's important that people take advantage of the fact that Scotland has the Adult Support & Protection Act of 2007 and the Care Inspectorate in place in an effort to address this small but worrying phenomenon."Tweet