Jan 28 2009
Woman Charged With Murder In Care Home Deaths
As a former nursing assistant in a care home. I absolute hate all the news stories that come out about the lack of care in nursing homes. The news stories usuall generalise quite badly, tarring all care homes and the people that work there with the same brush. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen colleagues talk to residents in a horrible manner, which is completely unacceptable in itself, but I have never seen violence towards any of those in the care of the home I used to work in. To hear about the new story that has emerged today about the murder of 3 residents by a nurse is absolutely shocking and dispicable in equal measure.
Former nurse Rachel Baker was the co-manager of Parkfields Cesidential Home near Glastonbury. Under her charge, three elderly women died in suspicious circumstances. In fact, there were investigations into the deaths of 11 people in total but Baker was only charged with the murders of Francis Hay, Marion Alder and Lucy Cox today. Although full details of the investigation have yet to emerge, Rachel Baker is believed to have misused controlled drugs to kill the elderly residents. Her husband, Leigh Baker (the co-owner of Parkfields), hs also been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Rachel Baker, if she is guilty of these charges, is an absolute disgrace to the caring profession. I’ve spoken a lot about child abuse in recent weeks but abusing the elderly is just as bad. When you are placed in a position of trust and have the lives of the vulnerable in your hands then you absolutely cannot justify harming, abusing or defaulting on their care in any way. Murdering them is something else though. It is a dispicable act that should never occur in civilized society. Regardless of her motives, taking someone else’s life is just plan wrong. We may hear Rachel Baker say that those at Parkfields had no quality of life and that she was on a mercy mission. We may not, but if that ever does leave her lips then we should not judge her any differently.
From experience, it is difficult looking after the elderly, especially when you see their health, both mental and physical, deteriorate to the point at which they are a shadow of their former selves. No matter how much you would like to take away their suffering, all you can do is make them comfortable and there is an incredibly rewarding feeling in that. You have to be made of stern stuff because it can be a heartbreaking job, but you know that before you take it on.
Rachel Baker had no right to take the life of another. She was trusted and responsible for the welfare of those women at Parkfields. I sincerely hope that the families of the women can cope with this major blow and eventually come to terms with it. I also hope that it will help to improve regulation and processes within the care home industry. With the elderly population growing, something needs to be in place to stop this kind of thing happening. After all, we all have to get old some day and I would not want to think I am putting the lives of my relatives in the hands in others only for those people to take it away
