THE family of dementia sufferer Patrick Whelehan entrusted this frail man in his 80s to the Hempton Field care home in the expectation he would be safe.

The treatment meted out by nurse Jacqueline Duncan-Smith, where she threatened him and shoved a flannel in his mouth is shocking.

Some people may regard it as not the most serious assault, or on a par with some of the horror stories we hear from other care facilities.

But that misses the essential point that this was a betrayal of trust.

Admittedly, caring for the frail, the vulnerable and the elderly will be, at times, testing. But coping with such stresses or even provocation is a core skill for the job.

On the day Duncan-Smith clearly lost her temper. It is not known the immediate effect on Mr Whelehan nor whether it has left long-term scars. He is unable to provide a victim impact statement due to his condition but that does not matter: this just should not have happened.

What is also disturbing is that the incident was not immediately reported to the care home management and that a further four days elapsed before the police were called in once it was.

All in all, the trust of Mr Whelehan’s family was betrayed because they expected their relative to be treated with compassion, dignity and respect in his final days.

We must care for our vulnerable members of society. That is one of the true measures of a society, after all.