Many nurses 'wouldn't report abuse'

The poll for Help the Aged found that a lack of training, heavy workloads and fear of being confronted by the abuser was stopping nurses taking action.

The charity wants health and social care agencies to have a legal obligation to report suspected abuse to the police.

The study found that 58% of nurses would not report abuse of an older person because they fear having got it wrong. Almost two-thirds (62%) said looking after too many patients prevented them from giving the best possible care to older people. And more than a third (39%) would find it hard to discuss concerns with the older person while 26% feared being confronted by the abuser, saying this would prevent them from reporting mistreatment.

The poll was among 848 readers of the healthcare magazines Nursing Standard and Nursing Older People. It revealed that 68% of nurses felt a lack of training in how to deal with elder abuse was a barrier to them providing decent care. One in nine (11%) nurses said they would not feel happy for their own parents or older relatives to be treated at their place of work.

Latest figures from the National Centre for Social Research and King's College London show that 342,000 older people in private households are subjected to some form of mistreatment every year in the UK.

The most common form of abuse is neglect, followed by financial abuse, while other forms include psychological, physical and sexual abuse.

A survey for Help the Aged in February found that almost half of elderly abusers are relatives. A quarter of abusers are sons and daughters while 64% of old people are abused in their own home, that study found.

Almost a fifth (21%) of nurses in the latest poll were unaware of workplace policies for the protection of vulnerable adults or whistle-blowing. Over a third (43%) said they had not received any elder abuse training.

A fifth (21%) of those who had received training were not satisfied with it while 23% of all respondents said they would not report abuse for fear of upsetting or embarrassing the older person. More than three-quarters (76%) felt they would benefit from greater support and more training in dealing with elder abuse.