Charity calls on next Government to protect vulnerable older people

Britain's leading charity for combating abuse of older people has launched its general election manifesto calling on the political parties to remember the millions of vulnerable older people in society and to do more to protect them.

Action on Elder Abuse (AEA), which has been campaigning against abuse of the elderly for more than 20 years, says too many older people are still being physically abused by carers or relatives, and that millions of pounds are being stolen from them every year.

The charity has drawn up five key action points as part of its election manifesto that it asks the next Government urgently to address in order to protect vulnerable older people. It is also talking to politicians from all parties to see what they plan to do to protect the vulnerable elderly.

Chairman of the charity’s trustees, Dr John Beer, says: "It's unbelievable that in a civilised society elderly people are left dehydrated or soaked in urine in care homes and hospitals, that their worldly possessions are stolen by people they love and trust; we must do more to prevent this - please insist that the party you vote for must pledge to make preventing elder abuse a high priority in tangible and specified ways."

“For years, the abuse of older people has been covered up, ignored and marginalised, with greater protection often given to our pets than to older relatives or friends. Action on Elder Abuse has been campaigning for more than two decades to fight this abuse, and tackle a problem that is a major blight on our society.

"As the political parties gear up for what's expected to be a very close general election, we challenge them to join us in standing up for all those older victims who still have no voice, and who often suffer in silence... what we have called ‘The Silent Scream’.” The key points of the AEA manifesto are:

1. Access to care services where staff are fairly paid, properly trained and managed. AEA points out that there has been far too much abuse in care settings where poor pay, inadequate training and weak management were the root causes and managers claimed they didn't know it was happening.

2. More stringent regulation and inspection of care and hospital services that identify poor standards before they become engrained, and ensure they are improved. AEA claims that in many elder abuse scandals inspectors had failed to spot or failed to take action when care was clearly not good enough.

3. Better legal redress if vulnerable elderly people suffer abuse. AEA research has shown that hardly any personal injury claims from the estimated 500,000 older people who suffer abuse each year and hardly any appropriate penalties, including prison terms, given to the abusers.

4. Better protection for the savings and the finances of older people. Every day on the helpline at AEA, the charity hears heart-rending tales of theft by relatives and friends where no action has been taken, and cites widespread abuse of the Power of Attorney system where control over most decisions is handed to relatives, friends or legal representatives. 5. Better response from the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to investigate allegations about abuse of the elderly. AEA says that the protection of older people from abuse is not given the same priority as is accorded to child protection.

If you wish to support AEA's election manifesto please copy it to colleagues and contacts on social media using the hashtag #StopElderAbuse or email them, and also send it to your MP and other parliamentary candidates in your constituency. For further information on this election manifesto, please call AEA on 0208 835 9280 or visit www.elderabuse.org.uk