A manslaughter charge

has just been laid against the carer of a severely disabled woman who died of neglect. The case is one which has shocked all right minded people in this state.

It has also left those of us who know even more about the situation wondering, "Who next? What next? When will those in authority realise that people who have severe communication impairments are the most vulnerable members of the community? When will they also realise that even some of those who do not have communication impairments are prevented from communicating because of the circumstances in which they find themselves?"

There have been some more Covid19 cases here, enough for the government to suggest that they might place residences for the aged into lock down again. Middle Cat and I are monitoring the situation closely.  We still want the Senior Cat at home if possible. If there is "lock down and no visitors" policy brought in then we will have to work out a way of getting him home even if we have to use our own savings to pay for extra help. To leave him potentially without the capacity to contact family would be dangerous and, given his capacity for worrying, psychological torture. We can't do that.

Yes, we know about mobile phones. They are not the answer in this situation. I have lost count of the number of times that mobile phones have been "lost" or are "missing" or "the battery is flat" or "the bill wasn't paid" or "it got dropped" of the phone "needs to be fixed". Far too many excuses are made so that the resident in a community facility does not have the opportunity to make that all important independent phone call. 

I have been to residences where I have been refused entrance - by the carers, not the person I have gone to visit. On one occasion I was sufficiently concerned to resort to actually calling the police. The carers had been sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and looking at their phones. The residents were still in bed. The young man I had gone to see had been denied the use of his phone because he had "complained".  The carers in question were simply moved on.

So, right now we are closely monitoring the situation. The staff may find that strange. They may think we do not trust them but experience tells me it is right to watch what is happening.