Staff in care homes neglect elderly, says Sirens medic

A paramedic who inspired Channel 4's series Sirens says seeing the neglect old people suffer in care homes is more distressing than dealing with car crash victims.

Brian Kellett, whose blog-turned-book Blood, Sweat And Tea was the basis for the programme, said professional staff in homes "don't care" about their patients.

He alleged that the elderly are left in wet beds with no sheets or unable to reach a cup of tea.

"You might think my job's worst moments have come from terrible car pile-ups or all the fighting and abusive language," he said. "No, it's nursing homes."

Mr Kellett, 39, who has returned to nursing, told how he would find dried vomit still lying on a care home floor weeks after an elderly patient had been sick. He said the failings he had witnessed made him "stunningly angry".

"These poor souls have done their work, fought in the wars, raised children," said Mr Kellett, from east London. "Then suddenly they're in nursing homes where the staff don't care."