Commenting on the publication of Safeguarding Adults Annual Report, England 2015-16, Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Independent Age, the older people’s charity said:
“Abuse at any age must be condemned and these figures show that, of adults, the oldest people in our society, the over 85’s, are most at risk of abuse. More than a third of all cases investigating allegations of abuse concerned acts of neglect. What’s even more worrying is that 57% of cases of alleged neglect and omission come from within the social care sector itself. In practice this means people could be left in soiled clothing, a bell ringing for help goes unanswered, or food is left to go cold on a plate while an older person goes hungry. And the reality is that we have no idea of the true scale of the problem as these figures only reveal cases where concerns about potential neglect have actually come to light. The new PM has talked about her desire to tackle injustice – we would urge her to tackle the cause of these appalling figures head on.”