Vulnerable Scots forced to wait 10 hours for medical help because care staff are sleeping

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Vulnerable adults can wait up to 10 hours for help as care staff are sleeping, a whistleblower claimed. People with learning difficulties in supported living accommodation have round-the-clock carers but the insider claimed some staff who work 24-hour shifts sleep between 10pm and 8am.This means if the residents need help it is not always available.

And it is alleged they often they have to lie in their own urine for hours until staff come in.The union Unite confirmed that some staff sleep on shifts, but a spokesman added: “There are real concerns across all of social care – especially for night shift and lone workers.” The whistleblower, who works for Glasgow-based home care provider Living Ambitions, said: “I work in a house which is shared by three service users and there are up to 70 houses like this throughout Glasgow.

Most are owned by housing associations and social work pay for people to support them. “Most of the service users have mental health issues or learning difficulties. “They have usually been placed there as their parents have died or their families are no longer able to care for them.

But I’m sure their families would be furious if they realised their relatives could be lying in their own urine for hours at a time or could collapse with a stroke during the night with no one there to call an ambulance.” They added: “Recently I’d just gone to bed when a woman fell.