"Poor conditions in some care homes"

I am so pleased to read the many good reports of excellence in the NHS. I can't help but compare this to the experiences I had while working in care homes for the elderly.

Every single day I heard verbal abuse and witnessed low level physical abuse. There were some bad staff there and the rest turned a blind eye to it to protect their (badly paid) jobs. If a new carer joined the staff and she seemed to be successful or well spoken her life would be made unbearable. They didn't like nice people working there - they might give good care which the residents could come to expect. The staff sat in their room swearing and talking dirty about residents - as a former office worker I was horrified by this.

I write this story to tell people to be careful while choosing a care home. I would not have let my colleagues look after my tortoise.