Lives 'destroyed' by abuse unchecked in care homes

Predatory staff who target vulnerable adults in care homes are free to move jobs unchallenged, The Independent can reveal, as almost 10,000 incidents of sexual abuse have been recorded in the past three years.

- REBECCA THOMAS

The fact that abusers can move from home to home emerged in an independent review sparked by complaints made three decades ago by the family of a man with learning disabilities.

Clive Treacey was allegedly groomed and sexually abused at the age of 23 in a private care home in Cheshire and then moved to Staffordshire where his abuser was able to access him again, it was claimed. Both Mr Treacey and his alleged abuser have since died.

His story was first reported by The Independent in 2021 and the review into his care – carried out by the most senior safeguarding expert in England Professor Michael PrestonShoot and seen exclusively by this publication – showed huge failures in dealing with concerns raised by his family.

The review warned that vulnerable adults across the country could still be at risk of harm with no national guidance for officials on how to respond to allegations of abuse of adults by care home staff in positions of trust.

Mr Treacey’s sister, Elaine Clark, and parents Pauline and Michael said: “There are no words to describe the impact of waiting for over 30 years for the abuse that devastated both Clive’s life and ours to finally receive proper scrutiny in this safeguarding adults review. We can never forgive those who failed to protect Clive. It didn’t just destroy Clive’s life but all of our lives too.”

The shocking failures highlighted in the safeguarding review come as new data from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows almost 10,000 reports of sexual assault, harassment or abuse have been made in care homes between 2020 and 2023.