FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16 2001
BY SIMON DE BRUXELLESA 93-YEAR-OLD woman has been told that she could lose her home help unless she agrees to be bathed by a man.
Una Penny, a widow who lives in sheltered accommodation, is helped each morning by a female carer to wash her hair and shower. Two weeks ago she was telephoned by council officials who told her that her usual carer was being replaced by a man, who would take over bathing duties.
Mrs Penny says that when she objected that she found the idea embarrassing, she was warned that she might be asked to see a psychiatrist to discuss her “problem with men”. She was also told by a social services official that she could lose her home help.
The female carer employed by South Gloucestershire Council has been visiting Mrs Penny daily for a year at her home in Thornbury, Bristol.
The visits have now stopped and Mrs Penny has had to move in with her daughter.
Her son-in-law, David Dunn, said that his mother-in-law had been told by council officials that it would be an infringement of the male care worker’s human rights not to allow him to carry out the bathing duties. Mr Dunn, a retired head teacher, said: “To my mind this is a disgrace. My mother-in-law does not want a total stranger coming into her bathroom and bathing her. It is an intimate contact. It is totally unthinkable.”
“To say my mother-in-law is infringing the helper’s human rights is ridiculous. What about her rights? It’s a disgrace that they could treat an elderly lady in this way.”
Mrs Penny said that she raised her objections straight away when told of the proposed change. “But they told me that I would get used to it. I think that is monstrous — as if I should have to get used to it.”
Mrs Penny’s help was provided by the agency Brunelcare, which was recently awarded South Gloucestershire Council’s £750,000-a-year home care contract.
A spokeswoman for the council said that social services officials were now trying to resolve the dispute. “We understand the concerns of Mrs Penny and her family,” she said. “We employ two male carers and generally do not have a problem; in fact they are proving to be more popular than female carers.”