Elderly gay man ‘bruised’ and ‘burned with cigarette’ in London care home

The civil partner of an elderly gay man who was abused in a care home has said they were encouraged by other LGBTQ+ residents not to present as a couple.

Ted Brown’s partner Noel Glynn was given a place in a Croydon care home back in 2018 – despite living in Brixton – as Lambeth Council were unable to provide him a space. 

Mr Glynn, who had dementia, suffered from multiple bruises and a cigarette burn to the back of his hand while in care. 

Mr Brown also revealed he was advised by two other LGBTQ+ residents not tell tell staff they were a couple as “that won’t be good for either of you”.

“This is a massive problem”

The victim was set to receive £30,000 by Lambeth Council for breaching his human rights.

However, he died before the money came through. Mr Brown is now expected to receive the money instead through probate.

This is just one of multiple cases highlighted in London-based charity Compassion in Care’s recent report. The document looks into LGBTQ+ treatment in care settings.  

“This is a massive problem,” report author Eileen Chubb said.

“What has been highlighted specifically is that victims often have no children so they don’t have that network of people visiting them, which means that there is less scrutiny and that makes them more vulnerable.”

The report details several accounts from whistleblowers who either didn’t feel safe to be LGBTQ+ in the workplace, or witnessed poor treatment of LGBTQ+ residents.

Experiences of whistleblowers are outlined in the second part of Compassion in Care’s “Stripped of All Pride” report. 

It says abuse from staff was motivated by one or all of the following: “A personal/religious or cultural belief that LGBTQ people were evil, needed to be converted or deemed to have engaged in criminal activity.” 

One whistleblower, who worked in a care home, said: “I am Gay but no one at work knew, it is not the sort of place where it’s safe to be gay. I have worked in seven care homes now and every one of the places was homophobic and frightening.” 

“I have worked in seven care homes now and every one of the places was homophobic and frightening”

They went on to add that they now work in the hospitality industry as the care industry “broke” them. 

Another who witnessed abuse on a resident shared: “This gay resident had no family, they were covered in bruises, there was no one to ask how they got them. 

“I saw this person being slapped and punched and reported it, I could not believe it, the only thing that happened was the abusers were given diversity training, you can’t train people who hate that much”.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson told Attitude Magazine they were “sorry” for Mr Brown and his partner’s experiences of the care system. 

They said in a statement: “The council took responsibility for Mr Glynn in 2018 after he was placed in a care setting in Croydon following a spell in hospital. When allegations of abuse were made they were fully investigated by Croydon Council as the host authority, and the outcome was shared with the police for follow up action.

“In agreement with Mr Glynn, the council supported his move to more suitable accommodation in 2019. We are in contact with Mr Brown to keep him updated on this case and are sorry for the experiences he and Mr Glynn had of care services.

“Since 2022 Lambeth Council has been working with care home providers and additionally the charities Opening Doors, Lambeth Links and AgeUK on a programme to better respond to the needs of older LGBTQ+ people receiving social care services.

“These organisations are helping us develop new tools and training programmes to better address these needs, and to ensure there’s no incidents like this at Lambeth care homes.”