Elderly killed by neglect - More than 600 care-home residents in the United Kingdomhave died of thirst in the past five years...

Elderly killed by neglect

More than 600 care-home residents in the United Kingdomhave died of thirst in the past five years, The Daily Mail revealed.

Shocking figures also show that scores of vulnerable pensioners were effectively left to starve to death.

The true toll may be even higher because victims of care home neglect who die in hospital are not included in the totals.

During Labour’s period in power the number of deaths linked to dehydration doubled while those involving superbugs rose sevenfold.

The Daily Mail asked the Office for National Statistics to analyse the death certificates of care home residents in England and Wales between 2005 and 2009.

Their experts uncovered 667 victims of dehydration and 157 of malnutrition.

These numbers are likely to be a massive underestimate because few people in care homes are tested for the infections.

Neil Duncan-Jordan of the National Pensioners Convention said, "The fact that people are dying from these sorts of causes is absolutely shocking in the 21st century."

"What it shows is that a significant number of older people in our care homes are getting substandard, third-rate attention. Yet the cost of staying in a care home is huge – the average is between £600 (RM3,000) and £800 (RM4,000) a week."

“And yet for that, no one helps you eat your meals, no one ensures you are properly turned in bed, and no one makes sure you have had enough to drink," he said.

Source: The Daily Mail

Published Jan 31


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