become a nightmare existence of neglect and abuse.

This came from elder-care employees who spoke to The Royal Gazette about problems they encountered in the rest homes they worked in Island-wide.

Claudine Burgess said she has cared for the elderly for more than 35 years -- working at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, local nursing homes, and private residences.

Mrs. Burgess has several letters of reference from former employers who praised her excellent service in caring for the elderly.

But she claims the level of neglect and abuse she has witnessed in some local nursing homes has been enough to bring tears to her eyes.

She said in many instances, the residents were being ill-treated -- and were not being bathed or fed properly.

"I gave one lady a sponge bath, and I thought at first that she had some leaves stuck between her toes,'' she said.

"I got a basin and scrubbed her feet and I saw that it wasn't leaves, it was dirt -- and it stunk so bad.'' "Another time, I had one tin of corned beef, one tin of beets, three rotten tomatoes and some stale crackers to feed 12 people,'' said Mrs. Burgess. "One lady kept telling me she was hungry. They had food at the home, but they just kept it locked away.

"But when I mentioned it to the matron, she said `don't tell me' or `I've got to go'. She didn't want to hear about it.'' Emergency Medical Technician Shane Simmons has worked with senior citizens at nursing homes for a number of years.

He echoed many of Mrs. Burgess' concerns about the care -- or lack of care -- that elderly patients receive at rest homes.

Both Mrs. Burgess and Mr. Simmons mentioned a rarely-discussed and extremely delicate issue -- that of care givers abusing their elderly patients.

"The issue of elder-abuse is like racism -- everyone knows about it, but no-one speaks about it,'' said Mr. Simmons.

Mrs. Burgess said she never witnessed a patient being actually abused, but suspected that abuse occurred and was rarely reported.

She noted one occasion when she pulled the covers off a resident and the resident put her hands up as if to ward off a blow.

And Mrs. Burgess said another patient told her that she never asked for any extra help from employees for fear of being hit.

Both Mr. Simmons and Mrs. Burgess noted that although they did not know of specific instances of physical abuse, emotional abuse was also an issue and they cited several occurrences where patients were verbally abused or yelled at by care givers.

When one matron was asked to comment on allegations made specifically about her rest home, she said she was "completely unaware'' of any such problems.

"I'm stunned...I've been here for 18 years and we don't treat our patients like that. It's very peaceful here, '' she said.

One of the more difficult aspects of addressing the quality of care in nursing homes is the fact that many senior citizens are afraid -- for fear of repercussions -- to report neglect or abuse.

And in some cases, resolving such an issue boils down to one person's word against another's.

Elderly neglected The Royal Gazette asked Health and Family Services Seniors and Disabled coordinator Corita Saunders to comment on how the rights and safety of elderly nursing home patients was monitored -- and whether the system is actually effective.

Ms Saunders admitted the issue of elder abuse was "a very complex problem'' -- but she assured that the Ministry had policies in place to combat the problem.

Ms Saunders said she conducted random spot-checks along with Health inspectors, district nurses and Government nutritionists to ensure proper care was being given.

Ms Saunders said any senior, caretaker or administrator who witnessed neglect or improper care should report to the Department of Health immediately.

And she encouraged a push for legislation protecting seniors, emphasising the "ethical responsibility'' of administrators toward ensuring safety.

Despite Ms Saunders' comments, care-givers insisted that the day-to-day reality experienced at some nursing homes tells a different tale.

"The folks who are interested in really caring for the elderly get fed up and quit,'' said Mrs. Burgess. "One man told me not to fight it -- that I should just get paid well, get the money, and keep my mouth shut about what's going on...but the patients are more important than that.

"The Premier is visiting the senior citizens at the wrong times. ..she's just posing with them. But our senior citizens are not being treated right -- and the supervisors at the rest homes need to be supervised.''