Charities are calling for new laws to protect the elderly as a study shows that more than 300,000 cases of abuse go undetected each year.

Call for new laws to protect elderly from abuse
article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Cases of abuse of the elderly uncovered by inspectors include care homes where residents were routinely tied to their beds and chairs, locked up or dragged around by their hair.

Other residents, many of whom had dementia, have been refused food and denied trips to the lavatory in punishment for "bad behaviour".

Investigations have revealed a woman of 85 who had her fingernails ripped off by a care worker, a 78-year-old covered in cigarette burns, and a number of thefts of pensions by care staff paid to look after the elderly.

Government research suggests that 340,000 pensioners suffer some form of physical, financial or emotional abuse each year.

Action on Elder Abuse investigated local authority records and found that fewer than a tenth of that number of cases are ever investigated by social services.

The charity, together with the Alzheimer's Society, Age Concern, Mencap, and the Commission for Social Care Inspection, is calling for laws to be introduced which would place a duty on all agencies which work with vulnerable adults to log and investigate reports of abuse – either in residential care or in family homes – and to share information with other agencies.

Currently, different bodies set their own rules about how to protect the frail elderly, and disabled, from harm.

The charities made the plea as part of submissions to a Government consultation on the protection of vulnerable adults, which closed yesterday.

Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse, said: "We are simply not doing enough to protect old people facing abuse, and we are challenging the Government to listen and to introduce safeguards that make this a priority."

Neil Hunt of the Alzheimer's Society added: "We need to fight any abuse of people with dementia and that means putting systems in place early to avoid putting them at risk.""

You can reduce your risk of developing dementia by eating less salt/sodium.

One in five care homes is failing to treat its elderly residents with dignity and respect, according to study by Commission for Social Care Inspection

One in five care homes lacks respect for elderly

Extract from the Telegraph:

"The report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) found nursing homes where vulnerable pensioners were treated like objects or patronised as if they were children. In some, staff laughed at the disabilities of the elderly or gave them drugs so they would sleep all day.

The survey of 100 care homes also discovered lonely residents who had no one to speak to, and were prevented from walking around the wards by nurses. Referring to the terms of the Human Rights Act, the report concluded: "One in five of the homes we inspected did not meet the requirements of the law in terms of affording people dignity and respect."

The CSCI issued half of the homes it surveyed with "statutory requirements", meaning they must improve their services in order to comply with official regulations. However, the true number of failing care homes is likely to be far greater, as the CSCI focused on those which it had previously rated "good" or "adequate"."

Tens of thousands of vulnerable old people are suffering appalling abuse in homes for the elderly, experts are warning.

Thousands of elderly abused in care homes

Extract from the Telegraph:

"The first ever audit of calls to England's social care watchdog shows that more than 1,000 were made in just six months by people who suspected their relations or friends were being abused by care workers.

Social services chiefs estimate that a further 60,000 "alert calls" are made directly to local councils every year.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has uncovered homes where residents were routinely tied to their beds and chairs, locked up or dragged around by their hair. Some were refused food to punish "bad behaviour", denied trips to the lavatory or stolen from by staff."

"The audit was disclosed by the CSCI as it prepared to publish, on Wednesday, its first guide to all 4,000 residential homes in England for the elderly and disabled, giving each a star rating so that relations can compare factors such as the use of sedatives, staff training, and social activities.

The inspectorate has already said 248 homes do not meet basic safety standards. Investigations have revealed a woman of 85 who had her fingernails ripped off by a care worker, a 78‑year‑old covered in cigarette burns, and a number of thefts of pensions by "home helps"."

"Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive of the charity Action on Elder Abuse, said: "If you include abuse carried out by relatives and friends, studies suggest there could be 500,000 cases each year across Britain.""

www.elderabuse.org.uk

Many elderly denied care in their own homes

Many elderly denied care in their own homes

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"The drastic tightening of rules affecting which elderly people qualify for state-funded care in their own homes has left hundreds of thousands bereft of help and in dire straits, a report published on Tuesday is expected to say.

The report, by the care watchdog, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, comes as dozens of councils in England start to "pay by the minute" for care which elderly people receive in their own homes.

The CSCI will highlight an appalling lack of provision for the elderly and say that while many services are improving, others are absent or do not rise much above national minimum standards."

"Seven in 10 councils in England have been forced to "ration" services since Labour came to power.

Most town halls now provide services - including meals-on-wheels, trips to day centres and home visits from social workers - only to pensioners with "substantial" or "critical" needs.

Lack of funding means many councils help only those who are seriously ill or incapacitated. In some cases, pensioners have had to sell their homes to help pay for private care, or ask their families to pick up the bill."

Report slams appalling treatment of elderly people in care homes

Report slams elderly care home treatment

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"The appalling treatment of elderly people in care homes has been laid bare in a report which found some are dragged around by their hair, strapped into wheelchairs, locked in their rooms and sedated.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), describes how frail and vulnerable people are mistreated and often threatened or intimidated. Its 65-page report, Rights, Risks and Restraints, is based on a survey of 253 older people and their carers and an analysis of complaints and official inspection reports."

"Charities for the elderly were united in regarding the stories of abuse as "horrendous". They include:

· A staff member dragging a resident by her hair and tying her to a chair.

· Two staff routinely wrapping immobile and incontinent residents tightly in sheets to prevent them moving.

· A woman being kept waiting up to three hours before being taken to the lavatory.

· A resident locked in a bathroom with a chair under the door handle and the light put out. Staff were told to serve her coffee in the lavatory."