The BBC faced new controversy over care homes last night amid allegations of mistreatment at its own facility for the elderly, Top Gear.
Corporation bosses denied criticism that carers had deliberately humiliated some residents by getting them to act like teenage boys.
But evidence broadcast on the BBC clearly showed three elderly men uneasily cavorting in front of carers, dressed in clothes designed to make them look stupid. Some close-up shots also showed signs of abuse to their haircuts.
A spokesman for Help the Aged watched the distressing scenes and said: “Surely we should be able to expect national institutions like the BBC to treat bewildered men of advanced years with some dignity?
“Apparently these poor old codgers are regularly given toys to play with – which are then taken away from them at the end of a day’s filming, leaving them confused and distressed. They’re transported to uncomfortable places all over the world and left there for no reason at all.”
Dr Ford Mondeo, chair of the British Medical Association, said: “One resident is clearly suffering from a delusion that people want to hear his opinion on matters other than cars, while another has been regressing to childhood and playing repeatedly with his boyhood toys, a very obvious sign of mental distress.
“Encouraging delusions in the elderly can be dangerous – what would we say, for example, if control of football was placed in the hands of a bewildered elderly pensioner?
“Oh.”
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BBC in new care row over 'Top Gear' home for elderly and bewildered
(7 posts) (4 voices)
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FraserWords
offlineMemberPosted 1 year ago # -
waylandsmithy
offlineMemberThis is great, some excellent ideas in there! 5 stars
Posted 1 year ago # -
FraserWords
offlineMemberThanks - nobody else liked it, even though judging by the World Record Breaking BMW Comments, I reckon there's a lot of Top Gear viewers round these parts....
Posted 1 year ago # -
John Wiltshire
offlineMemberI have - never watched Top Gear and so I - don't know how they talk. But one thing I do know - the new Lagonda 507 V6 - is a real cracker! And that's why we raced it against a man in a diving suit riding a bicyle up Mount Everest - and guess who won!!
Oh by the way, great post, FraserWords! At least, it would be if I was familiar with Top Gear, which of course - I'm not. And neither are my friends who I always refer to by their surnames, just to show I went to public school and am therefore superior to just about everyone else on Earth.
Posted 1 year ago # -
FraserWords
offlineMemberFunnier than my post, John - wish I'd thought of your spacing - out - the words - gag
Posted 1 year ago # -
Wiltshire - I've not seen that episode with the race up Everest. I bet it was a suspiciously close finish though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
John Wiltshire
offlineMemberYou're right, Giant, it was very close. The Lagonda got there just seconds before the man in the diving suit on a bicycle. This was because there were some conveniently-spaced problems for the Lagonda during the ascent, during which Clarkson had to complain about May and Hamster.
Next week's challenge will be a race to Libya between a jet fighter taking off from a ship just off the Libyan coast and a dead man in a coffin buried several miles beneath tons of rock in the Andes. It should be really close again!
Posted 1 year ago #
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