A new battle of the sexes, dubbed the ‘Daddy Wars’, is raging in the home rather than the workplace, according to new research.

People choosing a care home for their loved ones might be best placed to judge the quality of the establishment by having a meal there, a charity said.

FOSTER children in Manchester have been placed with families who are NOT approved to care for them, a damning report has revealed.

Psychiatrists say a decision to close a unit which offers unique help to people with complex mental health problems will harm vulnerable patients.

A care home boss and his employee have admitted leaving three of their residents locked in a car for hours after they went to a betting shop.

{mosimage}Manager Chris Williams, 43, and carer Agnes Price, 41, appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court to admit the wilful neglect or ill treatment of three adults with learning difficulties who were in their care.

The case is the first of its kind in Swindon, with the pair prosecuted under the new Mental Capacity Act 2004 that came into force this year.

The two were told by district judge Mike Layman that they will go to crown court for sentencing and could be sent to prison.

On September 6, the pair took their clients out from the Whiteman Street home in a people carrier and parked in Ferndale Road, the court heard.

They were seen going into a nearby bookmaker’s at about 1pm and three hours later the police received an anonymous tip-off that three men were shut in a car and were distressed.

The three – aged 25, 45 and 56 – are all unable to speak, communicating through touch and smell, and have varying levels of learning difficulties, including Down’s syndrome and autism.

Prosecuting, Paula Mulherne said the caller could see the vehicle’s windows were steamed up, and that the men were in a distressed state shouting and pushing each other and grabbing at the doors.

“A police officer forced entry on arrival and felt a wave of heat from the van,” she said.

“He described it as a hot and muggy day’, and that the van was hot inside and it smelt.”

Once released from the car, passers-by fetched water for the men and helped calm them down.

Police found Williams, of Queensfield, and Price, of Cricklade Road, and spoke to them.

Both accepted they had left their clients, although Williams claimed he thought a window was open and he left music on. He also accepted that they were locked in through the use of childlocks.

The government has announced an extra £520 million to transform care for elderly people and those with disabilities, with local authorities signing an agreement to promote supported living.

A couple have been arrested on suspicion of murdering five elderly residents at a care home. Police investigating the death of 97-year-old Lucy Cox at Parkfields Residential Home in Butleigh, Somerset, have arrested registered nurse Rachel Baker, 45, and her husband Leigh, 48.

{mosimage}Officers suspect that some residents at the home may have been poisoned. A police spokesman said the Bakers, from Glastonbury, attended Yeovil police station this morning where they remain in custody.

“Both have been arrested on suspicion of the murder of four women and one man, theft and unlawful possession of controlled prescribed drugs and attempting to pervert the course of justice,” he said.

“Both arrests relate to ongoing inquiries into deaths at the former Parkfields Residential Care Home in Butleigh.”

Detectives have already exhumed the remains of three other former residents in order to carry out toxicology tests.

Mrs Baker was arrested on suspicion of administering a noxious substance on January 5 – four days after the death of Mrs Cox. Her husband, a chef, was arrested two days later on suspicion of being concerned with the same offence and was also questioned by officers.They were released on bail.

A police investigation has been launched into allegations of neglect at a care home in Westcliff. Officers have questioned the boss of Southend-based Strathmore Care, which operates Milton House, in Avenue, Road, Westcliff.

Calls for an investigation into the transfer of Essex County Council-run care homes to the private sector have been blocked.

A vulnerable man with learning difficulties who was brutally tortured and murdered by bullies was failed by all the agencies charged with his care, a review of his case has said.