Shameful facts of elderly abuse

Oct 2 2008 by Oliver Clay, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

HALTON has the highest number of alleged cases of elderly abuse referred to social services than any other North West borough.

It also has one of the highest overall rates in the country.

The situation was revealed at a recent meeting of the council’s Healthy Halton policy and performance board.

A report to members said that during a three-month period in 2007-8 there were 128 referrals of alleged abuse from 3,909 social services users, a rise of 59% on the same period in 2006-7.

Councillors heard that abuse against the elderly has been rising year on year.

Most abuse remains unreported as “people are too frightened, ashamed or embarrassed to speak out”.

In the report, Cheshire police said there is no specific crime of vulnerable adult abuse, which makes it more difficult to deal with than domestic violence or child abuse.

The Police Public Protection Unit investigated 32 cases during the past year but only six went to prosecution due to lack of evidence.

The PPU also only investigates “financial abuse” cases where the amount involved is more than £5,000.

However, the report says that the figures cannot be relied upon for an accurate comparison.

A council spokesman said: “Halton has always taken a proactive approach to tackling adult abuse by encouraging individuals, the public and organisations to refer allegations to the statutory agencies.

“Halton’s levels of abuse are therefore consistent with the research undertaken by the Department of Health.

“There is no indication that abuse is more prevalent in Halton than in any other locality.

“Other areas have also continued to see an increase in referral numbers, year on year.

“The quality of information available for direct comparison is doubtful, due to the lack of national standards. A national project is being set up as part of a move to devise national standards for data collection.”