I live on the North Downs in Kent and the fields either side of me are conservation areas which extend to the grass verges on both sides of the footpath that runs alongside the A20. The field to the one side has been acquired by Kent County Council. They purchased the field because it had, at one time, been an illegal refuse site, which continued to spew out methane long after it became disused. I don’t pretend to know what it is they've done to the site, but it involved landscaping and the reinstatement of monitoring borehole pipes that rise out of the mound. A tanker comes around periodically to collect whatever liquid soup (leachates) has fermented within the hill. The idea was to turn the landfill site into an area where wild life would be free to flourish with minimum intervention and to restore the trees that once grew there. They planted wild flower seeds, with the promise that trees would be added later. The first year it was alive with new growth, the hill was covered in what looked like clover. I saw stoats, chase each other in and out of the shelter of Teasels. In the evening, bats would flit and swoop from the trees at the edge of the field. As a protected area, it showed great potential. Now it looks like a barren wasteland. To the other side is a well established conservation area which is essentially a copse of Hawthorn and Blackthorn, not remarkable in itself but with minimum management from a gem of a guy who lives on the mobile home site that sits between these two conservation areas, it is a wildlife sanctuary, which at times takes my breath away with it’s beauty. Every season has its own distinct identity. Right now the Ox-eye daisies are dying off and the Scabious is coming into its own, which is good news for the exquisite Cinnabar moths that flock to the flower heads and are seemingly so intoxicated that they will happily allow themselves to be lifted up on my finger for closer inspection then gently replaced. Other wild flowers in season are clouds of Hedge Bedstraw, Bird’s Foot Trefoil forming a yellow carpet, Hairy St. John’s Wort and wild Marjoram. Myriads of other flowers dot the field and down the bank into the grass verge, together with tall wafting grasses, the names of which I learn and almost instantly forget. The jewels in the crown and at the moment at their zenith, are the Pyramid orchids, a protected species as are the Roman snails which inhabit both fields. The orchids are a master class of design, each tiny petal of the pyramid forming the distinctive orchid shape and the grass verge is awash with their purple heads. The rabbits that live here are numerous and although wild are cautious but unafraid. We have foxes, I've see the daily evidence but have only ever seen one in person. Pheasants that have escaped the gun take refuge in our field and the woods behind and butterflies and moths, too numerous to mention by name, even if I knew them, cavort over their chosen flowers. The bird song in the field, especially at mating time, rises above the noise of traffic on the main road and there are so many different varieties, all living together with minimum squabbling. I've moved slow worms and our special snails to the safety of undergrowth and we have lizards living in piles of rocks placed to catch the early morning sun. So why the difference between the two fields? Easy to answer and it frustrates me that the council don’t get it. The only maintenance our field has is a path, the width of a sit-on mower that winds its way around the field so that residents of the mobile home park can enjoy the beauty without encroaching on its wild, untouched areas. On the other site, the spring growth of wild flowers was just coming to an end when the man with the industrial sized mower arrived and decimated the entire area, before it had the opportunity to set the seed which would ensure next year’s growth and killing the summer flowers just emerging from the ground. I'm angry because if they don’t permit the natural flora and fauna to become established I can almost guarantee that it will eventually become a field of Ragwort. I've seen it happen before on other sites that have been cleared for development before being abandoned when the market for new homes went squit. We have some Ragwort in our field, it has its place because it’s essential for the caterpillars of the Cinnabar moth, and in late summer they cover the plant with their distinctive striped bodies. Having gorged themselves they become too toxic for birds to eat. What do you think? Shall I write to the council? Is there any point? Will anyone want to listen? What would you do? Cinnabar moth Ragwort Pyramid orchids Sometimes certain situations are simply perceived as being worse than they were in our grandparents’ day, but with so many reports of abuse of the elderly in hospitals and care homes, I’m beginning to think that there is a genuine problem here. During this last month we’ve had the BBC Panorama programme exposing abuse of residents in a care home for the elderly in Essex, now two hospitals in Wales have been called to account for their neglect of elderly patients in their care.
Neglect in this instance is a sanitised word for abuse. If patients aren’t fed, not given prescribed medication when it’s due, told to use their bed as a toilet instead of being taken to the bathroom or provided with a bedside commode and help to use it - that is abuse. If these events are happening where the perpetrators are being paid to dispense care, what is going on behind closed doors where relatives are the main carers? Relatives who are often overstretched and overstressed, with other responsibilities jostling for attention. Place a dependent elderly spouse, parent, neighbour, friend or a more distant relative into the mix and it can become a volatile environment. I know from personal experience that abuse can take many forms and can happen in the home, in a care home or, as has been reported on this week, in a hospital. My mother was a victim of abuse both by me, as her carer and by staff in the nursing home that was entrusted with her care because ironically I felt I couldn’t be. I knew what I’d done, there was no grey area and I immediately reported it to the doctor and begged for the responsibility of care to be transferred to a residential home because I could no longer trust myself. My action was unequivocally abusive and I knew it. I was frightened and appalled by what I’d done, but is abuse always that clear cut? I wonder if all carers are fully aware of what the term “abuse” covers. The following is a list of the main types of abuse. This is just an extract taken from the Age Concern Factsheet 78 issued August 2013 “Safeguarding older people from abuse”. I’ve read this leaflet in full, it holds a few surprises and should be essential reading for all carers in whatever capacity. I'm focusing on neglect because this was the prevalent but not the only form of abuse my mum was subjected to for more than two years in the nursing home responsible for her welfare. ”financial abuse neglect physical abuse sexual abuse psychological/emotional abuse discriminatory abuse institutional abuse.” “Neglect is a form of abuse in which the perpetrator is responsible for providing care for someone who is unable to care for him or herself, but fails to provide adequate care to meet their needs. Neglect can be deliberate or can occur as a result of not understanding what someone’s needs are. Examples of this could include not giving someone proper food or assistance with eating or drinking. It may be a failure to provide a warm, safe and comfortable environment. It could be failure to prevent physical harm such as not providing appropriate equipment to avoid excessive risks to mobility or transfers from a bed or chair. A carer or support worker could fail to record incidents appropriately, fail to read and follow a care plan or fail to provide basic standards of care. Someone’s health needs may be ignored, for example by not allowing them to go to the doctor for treatment, not arranging regular check-ups, or not giving medication in accordance with what the doctor has prescribed. Calls for assistance could be ignored for long periods of time or someone could not be assisted to keep clean in the way that they would choose, for example if they have incontinence. Possible indicators of neglect Dirt, urine or faecal smell in a person’s environment Pressure sores Prolonged isolation or lack of stimulation Depression Person has dishevelled appearance or is dressed inappropriately Person has an untreated medical condition Under or over medication Home environment does not meet basic needs, for example no heating Signs of malnourishment or dehydration Person who is not able to look after him or herself is left unattended and so put at risk Not being helped to the toilet when assistance is requested. Abuse is unacceptable and we all have a right to live a life free from abuse and to be treated with dignity and respect wherever we live or whatever our circumstances. Safeguarding is everyone's business.” I WANT MY LIFE BACK!
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AuthorJill Stoking qualified as a teacher for children who have severe learning disabilities and has worked in the provision of care sector for most of her working life. She has one son who lives in New Zealand. Jill is now retired and resides in a mobile home in Kent with her dog, fantastic views of the North Downs and a gloriously big sky.
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