Two alleged bullying incidents heighten fears of systemic failures in care homes

In the wake of two recent incidents involving the alleged abuse of mentally disabled people by caregivers and a special education teacher, the city's social welfare department, sociologists and social intervention groups are very concerned about stopping such behavior.

On Jan 5, four caregivers working with Harmony Manor in Sha Tin allegedly pulled a prank on an autistic patient, depriving him of sleep, while another patient was injured by repeatedly having sticky tape put on his nipples and then pulled off.

In a similar incident, Ann Leung Pui-ki, who taught at Po Leung Kuk Law's Foundation School, was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Jan 8 after footage showing her verbally and physically abusing a mentally disabled child in her care surfaced following an internal tip-off.

Eric Chui Wing-hong, professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at City University of Hong Kong, said the abuses were likely a systemic failure, in which the lack of supervision by senior management led to a breakdown in accountability.

The Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council, which runs Harmony Manor, confirmed the four caregivers had been suspended from duty while counseling has been arranged for the victims and their families.

The staff members who brought the worrying incident to the public domain in the first place have, however, alleged the perpetrators were allowed to remain on staff days after formal complaints were lodged. This was due to a lack of intervention by management.

Chui pointed to the role played by whistle-blowers in both cases - proof there were still many conscientious people in the profession.

While those working in schools are subjected to criminal background checks, home caregivers are not. Social workers are admonished for not adhering to a code of ethics, but caregivers are not always bound by such stringent rules, Chui said.

He said while the four workers' behavior was deplorable, care-giving was often a high-pressure, monotonous and physically taxing job.

"Something seen as a dirty job will result in shortcuts. So organizations have to pay attention to whether their caregivers are overly stressed," he said.

A Social Welfare Department spokesman said they have dispatched social workers to collect information, while the police have launched a parallel investigation.

The Hong Kong Joint Council of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped has urged care-giving organizations to maintain high standards when training and managing their employees.

Contact the writers through tim@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/13/2016 page8)