Reports of elderly abuse (FOI)

Request

Please provide all information, available in relation to the below questions:

How many reports have the States police received of elderly abuse over the past ten years?
Could you please note the nature of the abuse and what action was taken.
How many complaints have been lodged against Care homes in Jersey over the past ten years?
Please note the nature of each complaint and what action was taken.
How many complaints have there been against individual care workers?

Response

The request above cannot be completed within the time limitations allowed to complete Freedom of Information requests. Consequently the request is refused. However, the States of Jersey police recognise this is an area of concern for many and the response aims to give a picture of the current position.

The States of Jersey police record crimes by title; common assault, grave and criminal assault, larceny etc. The term ‘Elderly abuse’ is not recognised as a crime in law and can cover each of these offences and many other incidents.

There are 37 approved ‘Home care providers’ listed on the Jersey on-line directory. The States of Jersey Police have 41 residential care homes listed, two nursing homes and 11 duel registered homes (Nursing and care). Searching on the term ‘Care home’ on the States of Jersey Police crime/incident reporting system produced over 2,600 results from 2008 to the present day. This is not the number of incidents at Care Homes but includes all vetting checks for care homes staff and any incident where a victim, witness or suspect, may work at a care home. This could involve any incident, including traffic offences. In essence, each result would have to be individually viewed to ascertain the nature of the incident, which will, in most cases be totally unrelated to abuse of the elderly.

There have been no cases recorded against a specific care home for ‘systematic abuse’ as describe in some UK TV undercover documentaries however, cases surrounding individual incidents are investigated. If an investigation does not lead to a prosecution, the information is recorded as ‘Non-conviction’ information and may be used at a later date.

The vetting process for care staff for both children and vulnerable adults is extensive and can include disclosure of ‘Non-conviction’ information held by the police. Incidents that do not reach the required level of evidence for a court may still be disclosed on an applicant’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) vetting certificate. This allows an employer to make a judgement whether to employ the individual or not - or to put safeguarding processes in place to ensure the safety of the vulnerable (for example no lone working).

Each incident recorded by police is linked to the individuals involved using their Police Nominal record. This ensures no incident will go unnoticed during a vetting check.

Ensuring that some of the islands most vulnerable adults do not become victims of ‘abuse’ is a multi-agency responsibility. The police provide vetting services for staff and respond to reports of wrongdoing. The States of Jersey Police will robustly investigate any allegation of abuse.

Allegations of abuse by staff against nursing and care home residents are not common. The below have been reported within the last two years.

Aug 2017: two staff suspended following allegations of Common assault. (Rough handling of a resident). Enquiries ongoing.

Jul 2017: Allegation of assault by staff member on resident, using excessive force. Matter with the Law Officers department. Staff member suspended.

May 2017: Allegation from a resident of indecent assault (kiss) by member of staff. Enquiries ongoing.

Jan 2017: Male resident claimed to have had £200 taken from wallet. Police investigated. Monies had been found in the laundry on the previous day and were being held as lost property. No crime committed.

Nov 2016: Allegation from another member of staff that staff member had committed a number of minor assaults and been rude to residents. No other corroboration, no complaints or injuries noted from any resident. No further action after legal advice.

Aug 2016: Allegation from another member of staff that staff member slapped a resident whilst assisting with a shower. Case not proceeded with following legal advice.

Exemption applied

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

 (1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations.

Regulation 2 (1) of the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014 allows an authority to refuse a request for information where the estimated cost of dealing with the request would exceed the specified amount of the cost limit of £500. This is the estimated cost of one person spending 12.5 working hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.