Northern Ireland nursing homes being investigated

An investigation into nursing homes in Northern Ireland has been launched by the Human Rights Commission.

The commission has opened its phone lines for the next two weeks to allow relatives and staff to confidentially report any problems.

It said the rights of elderly people was at the heart of the investigation.

The commission has randomly selected some nursing homes to look into, but it also wants to hear from members of the public.

Human Rights Commissioner Monica McWilliams said nursing home residents can be vulnerable, especially those with dementia.

"Individuals who are in a closed environment for 24 hours can be potentially more vulnerable than what they might be in their own homes," she said.

Lack of resources

"Of course that's what we want to investigate."

Linda Maguire, who spent 20 years as a care worker, said a lack of resources and training meant standards were not always as they should be.

"You could be the only person that they see during the day - they may have no family," she said.

"You become their friend their counsellor, you become everything to them because they have nobody else in the world.

"But you are not given the training to sustain and support that individual in those areas."

Hugh Mills, chief executive of Independent Health and Care Providers, the body which represents many private care home owners, said two-thirds of abuse of the elderly "took place in the community, outside institutional care".

"Whilst it's important to eradicate all forms of abuse, and indeed we will support any aspect that emerges from the study and its call for evidence, we will be interested to see what might emerge," he said.

"If there are issues to put right and to be more thoroughly investigated, and improvements to be introduced, we will be right behind those."