12 OCTOBER 2002, Page 40

Care-home cruelty

From Brenda Murray Sir: Re 'Departure lounge' (5 October): every word rings true. I have been visiting friends in these homes for more than 20 years and have long wondered what could be done about inadequate care assistants. As they are paid so little, one can hardly expect them to have an in-depth understanding of elderly persons' needs or the skills to meet them every time, but I wish that they could at the very least be trained in good manners and removed when they are seen to be cruel, as a number certainly are.

Brenda Murray

Blundellsands, Lancashire