i thing that is it bad to abuse elderly people because it is not write at all we are meant to love them and not bully them.
They are old and delicute and it is not write at all if it was me i would do something about it and stop all the abuseive.

Dannie , hull, england

the goverment dont do any thing i m fighting social services at the moment to have my grandmar live with me as i have witnessed abuse and reported it with no effect as it still continues on a regular basis ,myself and my father just get laughed at socal severcies fob me off and lie to me on a regular basis and im at my wits end dont no who to contact as they all works together and i feel i cannot trust any one but they think they can get away with this as my granmar cannot respond as she as elzimas and wouldnt say boo to a goose any way she is a wonderful lady .the system stinks ps i was a nurse my self and left because i reported a collegue abusing a client and the nursing home made my life hell and forced me to leave.but now its happening to my own granmar and i cannot do anything i feel so usless please help me someone.

joanne, ilkeston, uk

I own and run a Residential Home for elderly people with varying levels of dementia. The only news we hear about Residential Care homes is bad news but may I reassure those people reading your paper who are looking for a Residential Home for their elderly loved ones, not all homes are bad. There are hundreds of very good homely homes full of very caring staff whose only motive for working in the caring industry is to provide a safe and secure place for elderly people to live.
Although 21 per cent of care homes failed to reach minimum standard, the government through Social Services still fund these homes yet the good homes that have reached and excelled the standards set down struggle to pay staff a decent wage. It seems the Government has fantastic ideas on how elderly people should be cared for but will only give a proportion of funding expecting relatives to “Top Up” fees from resident’s savings. This creates a two-tier system – those who have money and those who haven’t, and the people who have been frugal all their lives are being penalised and subsidising the people who haven’t. The government are well aware of the situation but are relying on relatives to foot the bill.

Ms Bridget Luckham, Tavistock, Devon

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act. "
Is this a joke? Really, are they joking?
This says that Local authorities are handing over the care of the elderly to profiteers and companies who are EXEMPT from the legal responsibility to care for the elderly...." This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
The elderly and vulnerable should have the best possible care available, and not tomorrow but now!
What exactly are we paying the Government and Minister for Care Services for? To hand over responsbility to companies who cannot be monitored or held to account? It better be put right and soon! Don't forget, you create the system in which YOU and yours will one day grow old and may be dependent!!! Better put it right now.

T. Bishop, London, UK

Unfortunately the press today has turned the committee's findings into a crude attack on care homes. The Mail’s article fails even to mention that the report covers both hospitals and care homes! The broadsheets and TV perform only a little better. The fundamental issue highlighted in the report is the failure to treat the elderly in the same way as other vulnerable groups within our institutions, but some of the press have quickly gone to the complaints section of the report and pulled out examples relating only to care homes instead of covering the whole report properly. This is slack reporting which distorts the message and as such is a disservice to the vulnerable elderly that should benefit from a meaningful debate of the findings.

S Robinson, Northampton,

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act. "
Is this a joke? Really, are they joking?
This says that Local authorities are handing over the care of the elderly to profiteers and companies who are EXEMPT from the legal responsibility to care for the elderly...." This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
The elderly and vulnerable should have the best possible care available, and not tomorrow but now!
What exactly are we paying the Government and Minister for Care Services for? To hand over responsbility to companies who cannot be monitored or held to account? It better be put right and soon! Don't forget, you create the system in which YOU and yours will one day grow old and be dependent!!! Better put it right now.

T. Bishop, London, UK

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act. "
Is this a joke? Really, are they joking?
This says that Local authorities are handing over the care of the elderly to profiteers and companies who are EXEMPT from the legal responsibility to care for the elderly...." This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
The elderly and vulnerable should have the best possible care available, and not tomorrow but now!
What exactly are we paying the Government and Minister for Care Services for? To hand over responsbility to companies who cannot be monitored or held to account? It better be put right and soon! Don't forget, you create the system in which YOU and yours will one day grow old and be dependent!!! Better put it right now.

T. Bishop, London, UK

This is not a new problem and has been brought to the publics attention many times over but has been ignored by the very people who could change the law to protect people in homes and hospitals. My Mother was in care and hospital at various times between December 1973 and June 1974 until her death in June 1974. The home was understaffed always and while generally most nurses were kind to her, I always had to be there to try and feed her in the evening ( I worked during the day) because for the rest of the day, being unable to feed herself , she had very little to eat and I often found drinks and food left there untouched. In fact when I had seen to Mum I would assist another elderley lady in the ward for the same reason, her relatives could not be there to help.
Mum had parkinson's and this made it difficult to dress her towards the end, one day in the care home I found her freezing cold by an open window with only the mimum of clothing on because there was not enough staff on to help

Patricia Lodge, Farnborough, Hamshire,England

There should be a law that forces Nursing/Care homes to employ a Doctor to inspect them and instruct staff about the needs of the "patients". He should report anomalies to the authorities.

Ray, Maidstone, UK

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act."
This is a joke right? You are joking?
The government is passing the 'problem' to profiteering companies who seem to have no legal responsibility to care for the elderly? This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
Who exactly is responsible for this fiasco?
Do remember that you create the system in which YOU and yours will grow old. Better put this right now, and give the elderly and vulnerable the best possible care. For everyone's sake. And not tomorrow, next week or next year but RIGHT NOW.

T. Bishop, London, UK

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act."
This is a joke right? You are joking?
The government is passing the 'problem' to profiteering companies who seem to have no legal responsibility to care for the elderly? This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
Who exactly is responsible for this fiasco?
Do remember that you create the system in which YOU and yours will grow old. Better put this right now, and give the elderly and vulnerable the best possible care. For everyone's sake. And not tomorrow, next week or next year but RIGHT NOW.

T. Bishop, London, UK

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act."
This is a joke right? You are joking?
The government is passing the 'problem' to profiteering companies who seem to have no legal responsibility to care for the elderly? This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
Who exactly is responsible for this fiasco?
Do remember that you create the system in which YOU and yours will grow old. Better put this right now, and give the elderly and vulnerable the best possible care. For everyone's sake. And not tomorrow, next week or next year but RIGHT NOW.

T. Bishop, London, UK

Every one of these homes should have an NHS nurse in it on a regular basis and that nurse should move between homes on a weekly basis covering ten homes so that he/she doesn't "go native". That NHS nurse should not only help out during their week there but they should train staff and spend at least one day a week writing up a report on the home. Any homes that fail to meet minimum standards should be closed with no right of appeal. The NHS nurses should also be given a few random homes to work in that they will never visit again for long periods. In this way we can put the NHS in charge and we can also ensure that by smearing the visits and reports acrosss many establishments and many NHS nurses that bad care homes will have nowhere to hide. If we weren't paying for care that would be one thing but £500 plus per week paid by individuals or councils should buy far more than we are getting.

John, Dundee, UK

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act. "
Is this a joke? Really, are they joking?
This says that Local authorities are handing over the care of the elderly to profiteers and companies who are EXEMPT from the legal responsibility to care for the elderly...." This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
The elderly and vulnerable should have the best possible care available, and not tomorrow but now!
What exactly are we paying the Government and Minister for Care Services for? To hand over responsbility to companies who cannot be monitored or held to account? It better be put right and soon! Don't forget, you create the system in which YOU and yours will one day grow old and may be dependent!!! Better put it right now.

T. Bishop, London, UK

Most of the elderly will be horrified at the thought of the ludicrous Human Rights Act being applied to them. I hope they stick to their guns and demand the repeal of this Politically Correct nonsense.

I hate Political Correctness with every fibre of my being and I know most of the older generation feel the same way.

Great Britain should just pull out of the Human Rights Act .

Emil Minty , London,

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act. "
Is this a joke? Really, are they joking?
This says that Local authorities are handing over the care of the elderly to profiteers and companies who are EXEMPT from the legal responsibility to care for the elderly...." This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
The elderly and vulnerable should have the best possible care available, and not tomorrow but now!
What exactly are we paying the Government and Minister for Care Services for? To hand over responsbility to companies who cannot be monitored or held to account? It better be put right and soon! Don't forget, you create the system in which YOU and yours will one day grow old and be dependent!!! Better put it right now.

T. Bishop, London, UK

"Local authorities are increasingly referring elderly patients to homes run by the private and voluntary sector, which are exempt from the Human Rights Act. "
Is this a joke? Really, are they joking?
This says that Local authorities are handing over the care of the elderly to profiteers and companies who are EXEMPT from the legal responsibility to care for the elderly...." This is tantamount to criminal negligence.
The elderly and vulnerable should have the best possible care available, and not tomorrow but now!
What exactly are we paying the Government and Minister for Care Services for? To hand over responsbility to companies who cannot be monitored or held to account? It better be put right and soon! Don't forget, you create the system in which YOU and yours will one day grow old and may be dependent!!! Better put it right now.

T. Bishop, London, UK

Lets be honest. Not enough people care. However, everyone has old age coming to them. The abuse and neglect will continue from generation to generation.
We live in a culture of greed and selfishness, in general.
Bring on euthanasia.

douglas, Crawley, Uk

How on earth can private care homes be exempt from the human rights act ? who's idea was that ? Seems as though it's almost deliberately set up to allow these kind of things to happen , the Government has a lot to answer for ...

Benzo, Nr Chelmsford,