Stop concealing drugs in old folks' food, care homes told

The call follows concern that nursing staff are dishing out sedatives to the frail and elderly without their knowledge or consent.

The new campaign follows official acknowledgement that drugs are often badly handled in care homes.

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Last year the Government's inspection body, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, reported that nearly half of all care home residents do not get the correct drugs and warned of risks of 'wilful maladministration of medicine'.

The 'chemical cosh' for confused and vulnerable people can make life easy for those who are looking after them. But it can also lead to a rapid decline in health and risk of death for the residents who are sedated.

Complaints over covert medication were raised with the Scottish Parliament by Hunter Watson, who discovered that care home staff were giving medication to his mother disguised in her meals.

He told the BBC: "It shouldn't happen. It is very very convenient for staff at care homes to conceal drugs in the food and drink of residents, not for therapeutic problems but to make the residents easier to manage.

"This can adversely affect the quality of life of residents."

Guidance to care homes in Scotland says drugs should be hidden in food or drink only when it is in the best interests of a patient, not for the convenience of staff.

In England, CSCI rules say care home staff may not administer medication covertly without the permission of a patient, the patient's family or representative if they are incapacitated, or a doctor who decides that unwanted medication is essential for their health and wellbeing.

Staff must also consult a doctor or a pharmacist to check whether crushing tablets to hide them in food is safe - the effects of some drugs change if tablets are crushed to powder. A CSCI spokesman said: "This is the chemical cosh, and there is no doubt it goes on. But without the patient's consent, it is against our guidelines."

Julia Quenzler of SOS - NHS Patients in Danger, an organisation formed by relatives of those who have died of dehydration in care homes and hospitals, said: "This is rife and it is happening not just in care homes and nursing homes but in hospitals.

"The patient is sedated and rendered incapacitated. Relatives who visit wonder what has happened to Mum, when yesterday she was sitting up drinking tea and now she is lying down with her eyes closed.

"Often, families are told to wait a couple of days. But then it can be too late, the damage is done, and the patient has to rely on artificial nutrition and hydration - water and food provided by tube that often, shamefully, doesn't come."

In Scotland, authorities said it would be wrong to ban covert administration of medicine.

Donald Lyons, of the Mental Welfare Commission, said: "If you stop giving medication covertly, quite a few people would not receive the medication they need."

Seven in ten care homes north of the Border use covert medication, according to surveys.

The CSCI found in England last year that 5,000 out of 11,500 care homes for the elderly have badly trained staff and no proper records of what medication has been given to residents.