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Caught on hidden cameras - yet just 1% of care home abuse ends in charges
How many more vulnerable people are suffering in care homes? Geraint Vincent reports
Ann King’s children were horrified when they reviewed footage from the hidden camera they had installed in their mum's bedroom - and immediately rang the police.
It clearly showed the dementia patient, 88, had been subjected to a distressing catalogue of abuse at the care home in Surrey they were paying £8,000 a month to look after her.
Staff at Reigate Grange had mocked, teased, and manhandled Ann. They’d made lewd gestures, flickered light switches to confuse her, and left her struggling on the floor for nearly an hour.
But despite all this evidence captured on camera, Ann's abusers were never charged with a crime. The case was among over 1,000 allegations of abuse or neglect at care homes last year which did not result in criminal charges.
Freedom of information (FOI) requests by ITV News to police forces in England and Wales have revealed a charge rate of just 1.4% for allegations of this kind.
The 16 forces which responded told us they had received 1,080 allegations in 2022 - but just 16 charges were made.
And the problem is likely to be much more widespread, given the majority of the 43 forces in England and Wales said they were unable to respond to our request for information.
Care Campaign for the Vulnerable, a charity which supports victims and their families, told ITV News the figure provided by police is just the "tip of a very large iceberg".
Charity boss Jayne Connery, who is campaigning to have CCTV in care homes as a deterrent, said she is "not in the least bit surprised at the incredibly low levels of criminal charges pursued against abusers".
Clinical negligence lawyer Stephanie Prior, who works for Osbornes Law, told ITV News about the difficulties for families seeking justice - even with camera footage.
"Often to abuse an elderly person it can be quite subtle, desont have to be something thats visible or clear," she said, "especially if the resident has dementia and they’re not often aware of whats going on".
Ann's children Richard Last and Clare Miller only discovered the abuse their mum had been suffering after installing a secret camera in her bedroom.
The pair, who felt a lifetime of gratitude to the woman who adopted them, put their mum in a care home so she could be looked after professionally once her dementia had worsened.
"In fact, it turned out to be the complete opposite," Richard told ITV News.
He was concerned about his mum's treatment after she begged him to take her home with him during one visit to Reigate Grange.
"Mum was coming out with disturbing things like 'don’t leave me on my own, please don’t leave me, take me with you, can I come home with you'," he said.
"Sometimes she couldn't recall but then she would say people come in and hurt me."
And when his sister Clare, who has worked in the care sector for more than two decades, saw the footage for herself, she was astounded.
The mother and former nurse had spent her life caring for others, but when it was her turn to be looked after she was psychologically and physically tormented by those who were supposed to support her.
"I totally broke, because obviously it's full sound, it's full picture and it broke me," Clare said. She immediately called the police.
Surrey Police say they investigated the allegations after receiving Richard's footage but were told by the Crown Prosecution Service that the "thresholds for criminal charges of assault, abuse or neglect were not met."
It said one man - the most prolific of her abusers - was issued with a "community resolution order, which is an out of court disposal, but which would be taken into account should any further offences come to light".
Signature, the care group which runs Reigate Grange, told ITV News it wanted to apologise to her family once again for the abuse she suffered in early 2022.
"This was an isolated incident where the behaviour of the individuals concerned was reprehensible and fell far short of the standards of care we provide to our residents every day.
"We would like to again apologise to the King family for their experience.
“When the footage was first shared with us in May 2022, we immediately alerted the police, removed the individuals from the home, and took comprehensive action to ensure all other residents were safe."
It added it worked closely with police investigators at the time and all those implicated in the secret filming are no longer employed by Signature.
Claire Rintoul, who runs care group Sheffcare in Sheffield, told ITV News many homes struggle to employ caring staff because of a lack of respect for the profession.
"Unfortunately we’re just not as well regarded by the NHS, the staff aren’t paid as well. It's a really hard job.
"I think if it was given the status and the funded it needed, it would attract people who saw it as a proper career who saw the value in it.
"People really respect nurses and doctors. I don't think they respect social care workers in the same way."
The CPS says it would "prosecute every case referred to us that meets our legal test" and insisted it is "committed to seeing more cases going to court through closer working with the police".
It pointed out "not all reported incidents will be passed on to us by the police for a charging decision" and claimed it was misleading to say the CPS presided over a low crime charge rate in England and Wales.
Labour said the number of allegations of abuse and neglect in care homes is "totally unacceptable", with Shadow Social Care Minister Liz Kendall saying "there must be zero tolerance of this behaviour throughout the system. No ifs, no buts".
She added: "The government must now spell out why so few charges have been brought and the urgent steps that will be taken to guarantee everyone is safe in the place they call home."
The Department for Health and Social care declined to comment, as did the Home Office.
But Clare, who recently returned to work in the care sector after suffering a breakdown following her mum's treatment, told ITV News she wants ministers to work on specific care legislation she'd call Ann's Law.
She is calling for a register of care to be created, so anyone accused of inappropriate behaviour can be struck off, and for police to receive proper guidance to help them realise where abuse is taking place so it can be dealt with swiftly.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), which represents forces in England and Wales, insisted any report of abuse is taken "incredibly seriously".
NPCC lead for adults at risk, Chief Superintendent Jim Gale, told ITV News forces work closely with agencies including the Care Quality Commission and local authorities to "consider issues raised by safeguarding leads and identify best practice".
He said police are "considering how this can be improved" and "looking at innovative ways" to protect adults at risk at an earlier stage before criminal offences are committed.
Mr Gale added: "A criminal charge is not the only potential outcome of an investigation, with out of court disposals or the use of barred lists also used where appropriate.
"Officers take into consideration all circumstances of a case, with victims' wishes at the centre of our decision-making.
"We will continue to work closely with our partners to improve our joint response to this area of vulnerability."
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