HUNDREDS of Gwent pensioners claim they have suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of their carers in the past two years.

Gwent councils received 780 allegations of abuse against elderly people by those who were supposed to be looking after them between April 2009 and March 2011, figures obtained under the Freedom of information Act show.

The level of abuse reported to Newport, Torfaen, Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly councils includes alleged instances of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, as well as financial and verbal abuse and neglect.

But of these reported incidents only 27 led to prosecutions across all five council areas – 24 of which were in the Caerphilly County Borough.

The information comes as councils across the UK are holding events to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day today.

A Newport council spokeswoman said the authority does not tolerate abuse of older people and was committed to prevention, protection of victims and helping to bring those responsible to justice.

She added that some older people were reluctant to make complaints to the police, and the council was seeking to address this by raising awareness at an Elder AbuseAwareness event in High Street today.

A Torfaen council spokesman said all referrals regarding any sort of abuse against elderly people living in care homes were taken very seriously and were always thoroughly investigated.

Caerphilly councillor Judith Pritchard, cabinet member for social services, said any form of abuse was a violation of human rights and it was extremely sad that abuse against the elderly does happen, often by people who they know and trust.

A spokeswoman for Blaenau Gwent council said it followed nationally agreed guidelines and provided an extensive range of training and support services to identify and tackle abuse where it may possibly occur.

Monmouthshire’s head of adult services, Julie Boothroyd, said: “We monitor our activity levels closely and use this information to develop action plans; these plans are agreed by the area adult protection committee.

We have a comprehensive training programme, awareness raising is a high priority and we work in partnership with the police to pursue prosecutions.”

Monmouthshire council’s only prosecution was successful but Newport and Caerphilly councils were unable to provide details of the number of successful prosecutions.

Protection a must for champion

RUTH Marks, older people’s commissioner for Wales, said this kind of abuse was “completely unacceptable” and called for a strengthening of adult protection laws.

She said around 5,000 cases of abuse were being investigated in Wales every year – the majority of which involve older people – and more could be done to protect them. She said: “Age discrimination often underlies abuse of older people.

When we attach less value to someone, we care less about what happens to them.

“Many people in the field of adult protection have told me that the current law is a confusing maze.“ In order to reduce the confusion, Ms Marks yesterday launched a practical guide called Protection of Older People in Wales: A Guide to the Law, to help professionals better understand the law in a bid to prosecute those who commit elder abuse.

2009-2011 cases Area Cases Prosecutions Newport 278 2 Caerphilly 245 24 Blaenau Gwent 123 0 Torfaen 93 0 Monmouthshire 41 1

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Tighten up, protect OAPs

WITHOUT our wanting to be alarmist in any way, the figures relating to the level of abuse against elderly people in care homes are quite shocking.

At first glance the number of prosecutions in relation to allegations as revealed by our Freedom of Information request is relatively low.

However, we all know that the Crown Prosecution Service needs a lot of persuading that evidence is strong enough to prosecute in many cases.

But what concerns us is that an allegation has been made in the first place.

Since 2009 there were almost 800 such complaints covering everything from verbal abuse to physical, psychological, sexual and financial abuse.

That is an awful lot in a relatively short space of time, especially when it is considered that the people involved are supposed to be carers.

We have previously carried details of some cases of financial abuse of elderly people, but obviously, as the figures show, a lot more appears to have been going on than perhaps many of us realise.

The figures are shocking by any measure.

Local authorities must tighten up inspection procedures to make sure abuse of elderly people in residential or nursing homes cannot go on unnoticed.