Lucy wanted to live. And live she did, for years longer than Gloucestershire doctors wanted to allow.
I spent years politely, humbly and persistently resisting clinicians attempts to shorten her life by delaying and withholding treatment, depriving her of lifesaving care.
I understand that my objections must have been a big ‘inconvenience’ for them, and I know I’m not medically trained, but I know my family member and her baseline quality of life.
So I challenged clinicians about poor care and the covert Do Not Resuscitate authorisations, but that didn’t warrant the barrage of gaslighting, hostility, lies, and false accusations.
I’ve lost count of how often I’ve been met with these underhand tactics that have been used to discredit, silence and prevent me from speaking out.
I’ve been detained, questioned, interrogated and arrested by police, who have portrayed behaviour similar to that of their professional colleagues within the NHS.
They finally succeeded into forcing an end to Lucy’s life, and what’s worse, is they did it in a premeditated and extremely callous way.
NHS are treating disabled lives less favourably than others, and I am aware that this happens to hundreds if not thousands of other people with comorbidities and their families every year.
Just remember that nothing is written in stone, you could be next.
Carers Want Competence: Your Public Watchdog for Accountability in Care
As a GNS Press Accredited Citizen/Public Interest Journalist (engaging in journalist activities) and independent public watchdog, Carers Want Competence is dedicated to rigorously scrutinising, investigating, and exposing extreme and systemic institutional failures, poor practice, and serious misconduct within all areas requiring duty of care and accountability, including health, social care, mental health, domiciliary, residential, and nursing care across the UK and internationally.
My activities involve comprehensive research, including investigating publicly available information on the conduct of individuals and institutions involved, to inform these exposures. I also engage in investigative work and am sometimes contacted by mainstream media investigative journalists.
We believe heightened public awareness and engagement are crucial to fighting these abuses, restoring dignity, and ensuring an acceptable standard and quality of care for vulnerable individuals, service users, residents, and their families. Our work directly parallels efforts like the recent success of Rashid Abbasi case, underscoring the vital public interest in naming individuals complicit in serious failings to achieve accountability.
Our mission is to foster transparency and secure accountability where it's desperately needed. We highlight:
Corporate abuses of power and organizational toxic cultures that disregard individual rights and duty of care.
The widespread problem of neglect and abuse often disregarded or concealed, denying individuals and families justice.
Fabricated allegations and reverse-blame tactics used by professionals and management to silence whistleblowers and advocates who seek to expose wrongdoing.
Protecting Future Lives: We cannot stress enough the importance of advocating for the rights, safety, and protection of future patients and their families. Our efforts aim to deter poor provision of care and lead to more impactful results for the entire community.
Support Services:
Beyond raising awareness and exposure of poor practises, we offer a completely free service of advice, referrals, emotional and practical support (including face-to-face assistance), mediation, and representation.
With over twenty years of experience as a complex needs family carer and a background as a Support Coordinator in the care sector, I provide informed advocacy and support. We also collaborate with whistleblowing organizations to ensure anonymity for care professionals who wish to report concerns in confidence.
Member of: National Association of Care and Support Workers, Care Home Professional, and GNS Press.
Contact us: carerswantcompetence@gmail.com or 07548075602.
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Carers Want Competence 