A nurse who worked at a Plympton care home for elderly and disabled people is to face a hearing for alleged misconduct.

Campaigners staged a protest against a planned increase in home care charges in Wirral. Scores of disabled and elderly people made the journey to Birkenhead Park’s pavillion to voice their anger.

More than 100,000 people in Britain suffering from dementia are being prescribed drugs by doctors and care homes that at best offer few benefits and at worst are lethal, according to shocking new research.

{mosimage}The controversial drugs, which are often used to sedate patients, have been described as a “liquid cosh” by one expert and the study has provoked a call for stricter limitations on their use.

Professor Clive Ballard from King’s College, London, investigated the effects of anti-psychotic medication, which is given to nearly half of dementia patients in care homes at an annual cost of £80million. He found that those who had been given it were nearly twice as likely, over a four-year period, to die than those who were not prescribed it.

Professor Ballard said: “People who weren’t taking the anti-psychotic drugs had a 62 per cent chance of being alive by the end of the study while the people who were taking the drugs had only a 36 per cent chance of being alive.

“For the vast majority of people there are no benefits, and considerable harm, from using these drugs. There were clearly deteriorations in some of the core symptoms, particularly their ability to communicate effectively.”

Many elderly people only mildly affected by dementia but prescribed anti-psychotic drugs are reduced to a “zombified” state by them, says the Alzheimer’s Society, which has demanded an end to their blanket use.

Vulnerable disabled people in NHS care homes in East Lancashire were the victims of “disturbing and systematic” abuse by carers, a shock report has found.

Hundreds of criminals, including those accused of sexual offences, have avoided prosecution after a “cover-up” in magistrates’ courts, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

A new imaging technique has shown up increased grey matter in the areas of the brain that control social processing and learning by observation in autism patients.

Some 71 per cent of people with mental health problems have been victimised within the community in last two years, compared with less than a quarter of the general population, new research has shown.

Having high blood pressure can worsen the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, as it constricts the blood flow in the brains of elderly people with the condition.

Council social services for adults have been praised for improving performance for the fifth successive year.

{mosimage}The Commission for Social Care Inspection said the number of English councils attaining two or three stars out of three rose from 78% to 81%.

And for the second year running none of the 150 councils got a zero star grade.

But experts pointed out that there was a growing number of people being denied care as councils tightened eligibility criteria amid a squeeze on finances.

The local authorities are judged on the quality of their services as well as their management of budgets.

The watchdog praised the work done in delivering home care, supporting carers and helping those with chronic illness stay out of hospital. The social care departments were also given credit for providing equipment and carrying out home adaptations for people.

More than 2m cases were handled last year – nine out of 10 within seven days, compared to three quarters three years previously.

The ratings for 2006 to 2007 show that 48 councils were given three stars, 74 two and 28 one. It means 24 councils had improved their star rating, compared to 15 which did worse.

When Jewell Ryan moved into an elderly couple’s Hampshire home to become a live-in carer she was meant to make their lives easier.

{mosimage}But just nine months later she faked a massive burglary and arranged for the theft of 200 highly valuable items from her employers.The haul was estimated to be worth up to £400,000.

The 59-year-old used a glossy brochure produced by Winchester auctioneers Bonhams to select the most valuable items from Leeland House in the High Street, Twyford.

She even stole treasured personal possessions by rifling though drawers in the room where the elderly woman she was meant to be caring for was lying in bed suffering from dementia.

However, her despicable actions involving two accomplices were exposed after police became suspicious about her allegation of a burglary and subsequently found Ch’ing dynasty porcelain in her suitcase.

Today Ryan, of Alexander Road, Hemel Hempstead, is beginning a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence after a Winchester Crown Court jury found her guilty of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to obtain property by deception.

She was found guilty of using a stolen credit card to obtain goods worth £2,271 and £2,200 in cash.