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Secret Camera Captures Horrifying Moment Alzheimer's Patient Is Abused By Staff

Secret Camera Captures Horrifying Moment Alzheimer's Patient Is Abused By Staff

Three nursing home care staff have been given suspended sentences after appearing in court

Anonymous

Anonymous

It's hard enough putting a loved one in the care of a nursing home, but when you do, you hope that they'll be happy and be treated well.

So you can imagine a family's horror when they reviewed a secret camera installed in a room.

Joy Lewis, 71, who lives with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, was placed in the Brookside House Care Home in ­Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire in February last year after a relative had previously lived there.

But the woman's three daughters became concerned for her welfare when she told them that staff were mean to her and were keeping her away from the other residents. The care home assured the women that their mum was happy and was just 'confused'.

When they came back for another visit, they said they saw bruises on her wrists and 'was covered in bed sores'.

That's when they installed a secret camera which looked like a clock.

Featureworld.co.uk

Daughter Kelly said: "I felt so guilty and my heart was thumping as I set it up. I told staff I thought it would help mum with her confusion if she could always see the time from her bed.

"What it recorded was a shock. Anyone who can treat another person like that is a vile creature. Watching the footage, seeing mum crying, was heart-breaking."

The footage shows care staff being physically and verbally abusive towards Joy.

Kelly says the videos made her feel sick, adding: "We then saw her woken up in the early hours, 4.45am, pulled out of bed by her wrists and dressed without being washed. Her pleas to use the toilet were ignored for hours. She was also left for hours at a time without food or drink even though she is diabetic.

Featureworld.co.uk

"She was crying her eyes out, sobbing, begging for basic things, saying she was frightened of dying. No one at the home came to comfort her. It was terrible.

"The camera records mum lying in bed asking for help for at least five hours. She was never turned in her bed to avoid sores. It could have been longer but the memory card ran out."

Brookside House Care Home has now been closed while three carers, Rebecca King, 32, Teresa Cutts, 50 and Joanne Hardstaff, 39, were hauled before a court but walked away with suspended sentences and community service orders.

The daughters were furious with the result and reckon they only plead guilty because they were caught on camera.

Joy is now in a new home and daughter Kelly said: "The difference in mum is amazing. She is so happy, always smiling and laughing. But it's worrying to think if it were not for our CCTV she could still be suffering."

They're now calling for CCTV cameras to be installed in all nursing homes around the UK to ensure that what happened to Joy doesn't happen to anyone else.

Featured Image Credit: Featureworld.co.uk

Topics: UK News, Abuse