Two care assistants have spoken to the BBC about
what goes on behind closed doors in some old people's homes in Northern
Ireland.

They work for an agency and have been sent to many different homes, but their experiences are very similar.

They claimed old people are left in soiled incontinence pads and
infections are easily spread by poor hygiene and shortages of basic
equipment. Both said they have seen care workers and nurses asleep while on duty.

Because they would lose their jobs if their identities were revealed, the BBC is not naming them. One, 'Ann', told of her experience.
"It happens more on a night shift because you don't have
visitors coming in and out, you don't have phones ringing so therefore
there's more time for either the staff nurse or the care assistant if
he or she wants to sleep that they do have an opportunity to do that. "I have been on a night shift where the staff nurse has perhaps slept for five or six hours." She told the BBC she had reported three homes for staff sleeping
on duty. And, as far as she knows, no sanction has resulted.
Both women said some staff they have worked with ignored the need to change used incontinence pads.

More Here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7557401.stm