Abuse of vulnerable adults: council investigations up four per cent last year

English councils referred 112,000 cases of alleged abuse against vulnerable adults for investigation in 2012-13 provisional figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) show.
This is a four per cent rise (from 108,000 in 2011-12) for the 151 councils submitting data in both years.

Councils also recorded an increase during the same time period in the number of alerts – usually the first contact between someone concerned about potential abuse and a council. Not all council systems categorise alerts separately, which should be considered when interpreting this information.

In 2012-13, a total of 173,000 alerts were recorded by 140 (out of 152) councils. Considering the 117 councils who recorded alerts in both years (comparing 2012-13 provisional data and 2011-12 final data), there was an approximate increase of 19 per cent (rising from 134,000 to 159,000).

Abuse of Vulnerable Adults in England 2012-13: Experimental Statistics points to a very similar breakdown of cases and outcomes to previous years in terms of alleged victims, perpetrators, locations and forms of abuse.

Today’s provisional report shows that, considering the 109,000 (of 112,000) cases referred for investigation in 2012-13 where key information was known (gender, age and client type):

Vulnerable adults
•    Just over three in five (61 per cent, or 67,000) were aged 65 or over.
•    Half (50 per cent, or 55,000) had a physical disability.
•    Just over three in five (61 per cent, or 66,000) were women.
Considering the case details of those 109,000 referrals (noting that an individual referral can contain more than one type, location or perpetrator of alleged abuse):

Types of alleged abuse
•    Physical abuse was recorded in 39,000 allegations (28 per cent)
•    Neglect was recorded in 37,000 allegations (27 per cent)

Alleged perpetrators
•    Social care workers were recorded in 35,000 allegations (31 per cent)
•    A family member was recorded in 25,000 allegations (23 per cent)

Location of alleged abuse
•    The vulnerable adult’s own home was recorded in 43,000 allegations (39 per cent)
•    A care home was recorded in 40,000 allegations (36 per cent)
Considering the 86,000 completed referrals where a case conclusion was recorded:
•    37,000 were either partly or fully substantiated (43 per cent)
•    26,000 were not substantiated (30 per cent)
•    23,000 were inconclusive (27 per cent)

HSCIC chair Kingsley Manning said: “This report in many ways makes for uncomfortable reading, not only that thousands of cases of potential abuse against vulnerable adults are being investigated each year, but more particularly that a substantial number are proven to be of substance.

“It nevertheless plays an important role in laying bare issues affecting some of the most vulnerable in society, the role of our local authorities and also that of the public in alerting councils to cases of alleged abuse.”

Today’s provisional report is at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/abuseva1213prov

The Final AVA Report 2012-13 will include more detail on the AVA data submitted by councils and will be published in March 2014.