Hundreds of inquiries into neglect and abuse in care homes in Wigan

Charity Age UK has called for a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, after “deeply distressing” figures revealed an increase in investigations of maltreatment of elderly people across England.

If councils believe an adult with care and support needs is experiencing or is at risk of abuse or neglect, they must carry out what is known as a Section 42 enquiry, to determine whether they need to step in.

Figures released by NHS Digital reveal Wigan Borough Council completed 300 such inquiries into incidents occurring in care homes in 2018-19.

And that was in fact a decrease compared to 2017/18.

The inquiries – which can also be carried out for suspected abuse occurring in other settings, such as hospitals or a victim’s own home – may concern allegations of physical, sexual, psychological or financial abuse, as well as neglect and substandard care.

Across England, people aged 85 and over were 20 times more likely to be the subject of a Section 42 enquiry than those aged between 18 and 64.

In Wigan, one in every 28 people aged 85 or over were involved in an enquiry, compared to one in every 408 under-65s.

Caroline Abrahams, director of Age UK, said the figures were “deeply distressing”.

She said: “Some older people are being badly let down by a system that has failed to treat them with respect or protect them from abuse and neglect and this urgently needs to change.

“Care homes must adhere to the strict rules and procedures which are devised to help prevent problems such as abuse, poor management and neglect.

“Any abuse, whether neglect, financial manipulation or physical or mental cruelty, is unacceptable and deserves a zero-tolerance approach.

“We would encourage anyone who suspects that someone is being abused to contact their social services department or the police straight away.”

Across England, the number of enquiries into abuse in care homes increased by six per cent compared to the previous year, climbing to 47,535 in 2018-19.

The number of enquiries fell in Wigan over the same period, but was still higher than the 280 carried out during 2016-17.

The likelihood of a person aged 85 and over being the subject of an enquiry has also increased across England, rising from one in 43 during 2017-18 to one in 41 last year.

Stuart Cowley, director for adult social care and health, said: “The care and safety of our residents is our number one priority and we are committed to working with local care home providers in the borough to raise and maintain high standards of care.

“Figures show that while safeguarding incidents in care homes nationally is on the increase, the number fell here in Wigan after strengthening our policies and procedures to ensure we intervene at the earliest opportunity and work collaboratively with all our care providers to prevent safeguarding incidents and to enable us to best protect and support people at risk of abuse.

“We encourage members of the public and staff working in care homes to report any incidents they feel fall below the expected high standard of care we have in

Wigan.

“We strive to ensure there are high quality care services in the borough, we are proud that 84% of Wigan care homes are rated Good or Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, there are no care homes in Wigan rated as Inadequate; in addition Wigan has the highest rated Care Quality Commission ‘safe’ domain in Greater Manchester.”

The Care Quality Commission, which inspects and regulates care homes, said it was unacceptable for vulnerable people to experience poor care.

Kate Terroni, chief inspector of adult social care, said: “People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and for their human rights to be protected at all times.

“We know that most people working in caring professions are dedicated and passionate about what they do, but we also know that this is not always the case.

“We will continue to work with providers to encourage them to improve but where this does not happen we will use our enforcement powers in people’s best interests and take action when

necessary.”

Overall, 2,895 safeguarding concerns were raised about vulnerable adults in Wigan during the year, and 1,380 Section 42 enquiries completed.