Sexual abuse statistics
MORE than 250 incidents or allegations of sexual abuse have been reported in care homes across Cheshire over the last five years.
A total of 127 sexual incidents in Cheshire East – the most in the county – were reported to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between the start of 2019 and the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, a further 61 were reported in Cheshire West and Chester, with 53 in Warrington and 12 in Halton. That made a total of 253 incidents or allegations reported over the five-year period – which works out as an average of 50.6 every year or just fewer than one a week.
The figures have come to light thanks to a Freedom of Information request made by EssexLive.
When sexual abuse or allegations of sexual abuse take place at care homes, an incident is reported to the CQC.
A total of 9,676 sexual incidents were reported to the CQC from across England as a whole. That works out as an average of 5.3 every day.
There were 3,738 incidents in 2023 alone, which works out as 10.2 per day. Hampshire had the most of any area in the country with 298. That’s followed by
Lancashire (272) and Kent (257).
James Bullion, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: “We take all reports of sexual safety incidents in adult social care settings extremely seriously and will always take immediate action if we believe people are at risk.
“This could include making sure relevant other agencies are involved such as the police, where necessary. We may also review our ongoing regulatory activity and use our enforcement powers if applicable.
“It’s important to note that the number of notifications may not directly correspond to the number of individual sexual safety incidents as we may receive several notifications for the same issue or incident.
“There is more to do to ensure that sexual safety incidents are reported and recorded in a consistent way that allows data to be shared and investigated more easily in order to understand and address risks to people’s safety.
“We are committed to working with partners to offer increased opportunities to learn from the information shared by staff, including on sexual safety incidents, in order to identity risk and improve care.”