Watchdoglogsmore than2200abuseclaims

VULNERABLE people who are being cared for by relatives, carers or living in care homes have made more than 2200 claims of abuse in the last five years.

The Care Inspectorate has logged 2257 mistreatment allegations from services across Glasgow between 2012 and 2016 – more than one every day.

Figures obtained by the Evening Times show the majority of the allegations, 2154, relate to adults living in care homes while 103 of the allegations were about people being cared for in their own homes.

While the number of abuse allegations for people in care homes varied slightly over a five year period - 464 recorded in 2012, rising to 542 the following year, and falling to 374 in 2016 – allegations about people being cared for at home has doubled since 2012.

In 2016, the care watchdog logged 32 abuse claims about home services, while in 2012 they registered only 18.

In 2013, 29 allegations of abuse were recorded about people using the care at home service, in 2014 there were seven and in 2015 there were 17.

Last year, a new care at home service was registered in Glasgow which supports vulnerable children who are at risk of being taken into care.

In 2016 alone, 72 allegations of abuse were recorded by staff working at this one service.

The watchdog stressed these allegations were by children who were being abused by family members or members of their community, not by employees working to support them.

A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said: “Our first priority is always the safety and wellbeing of people who access care. We take all allegations of abuse seriously and expect services to notify us of suspected abuse quickly.

“Anyone with a concern about a care service can contact our helpline on 0345 600 9527.”