This is a warning to all abusers of the elderly. Justice will be served!
Nightingale Nursing Home convicted of mistreating patient
04:45 AM Sep 04, 2012
SINGAPORE - A nursing home accused of mistreating an elderly female resident last year has been found guilty of failing to provide quality care.
Nightingale Nursing Home, its director and two companies related to the home were also convicted yesterday of various charges brought by the Manpower Ministry, including illegal deployment and false declaration to the ministry.
Nightingale was suspended last April from admitting new patients after its staff were caught on video mistreating a former resident, 77-year-old Madam Peh Siew Lay. The incident, which happened between November and December 2010, was later televised on Channel NewsAsia. Under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act, the highest penalty for failing to provide quality care is a fine of up to $20,000 and jail of up to two years, where applicable.
Tan Choo Waoh, 65, director of the home, also admitted to five charges of making staff work beyond the stipulated duration of 44 hours a week, as well as five charges of not paying them for overtime work.
In pleading for leniency, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, Tan's defence lawyer, said his client has devoted much of her life to nursing and having to be called to court was "devastating".
On Nightingale's charges, Mr Singh said the nursing home has been in the business since 1990, and this is its first brush with the law.
He argued the case was "an aberration", and the abuse stemmed from three individuals who lost their temper. The nursing home took action to reprimand the individuals involved and that one of them had left the service.
On the charges relating to illegal deployment, Mr Singh said the duration involved was very short and that Tan did not benefit economically from the acts. But the prosecution argued that by making the staff work longer than required, it leaves them less room to perform better in providing care to residents and patients.
At one point, Mr Singh told the court that the power of the new media has generated much publicity and brought embarrassment to Tan and Nightingale. Shame and embarrassment, he said, can be deterrents.
The four parties will be sentenced on Sept 18.
Nightingale Nursing Home convicted of mistreating patient
04:45 AM Sep 04, 2012
SINGAPORE - A nursing home accused of mistreating an elderly female resident last year has been found guilty of failing to provide quality care.
Nightingale Nursing Home, its director and two companies related to the home were also convicted yesterday of various charges brought by the Manpower Ministry, including illegal deployment and false declaration to the ministry.
Nightingale was suspended last April from admitting new patients after its staff were caught on video mistreating a former resident, 77-year-old Madam Peh Siew Lay. The incident, which happened between November and December 2010, was later televised on Channel NewsAsia. Under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act, the highest penalty for failing to provide quality care is a fine of up to $20,000 and jail of up to two years, where applicable.
Tan Choo Waoh, 65, director of the home, also admitted to five charges of making staff work beyond the stipulated duration of 44 hours a week, as well as five charges of not paying them for overtime work.
In pleading for leniency, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, Tan's defence lawyer, said his client has devoted much of her life to nursing and having to be called to court was "devastating".
On Nightingale's charges, Mr Singh said the nursing home has been in the business since 1990, and this is its first brush with the law.
He argued the case was "an aberration", and the abuse stemmed from three individuals who lost their temper. The nursing home took action to reprimand the individuals involved and that one of them had left the service.
On the charges relating to illegal deployment, Mr Singh said the duration involved was very short and that Tan did not benefit economically from the acts. But the prosecution argued that by making the staff work longer than required, it leaves them less room to perform better in providing care to residents and patients.
At one point, Mr Singh told the court that the power of the new media has generated much publicity and brought embarrassment to Tan and Nightingale. Shame and embarrassment, he said, can be deterrents.
The four parties will be sentenced on Sept 18.
