Abuse, neglect, safeguarding enquiries and funding in care homes 2019-2024

​​​Request 730176705

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am sending this request under the Freedom of Information Act to ask for the following information:

· How many concerns related to abuse and/or neglect in care homes have been raised to your council in the last five years? (2019-2024 – please break this down year by year) 

· How many resulted in safeguarding enquiries? Please break this down year by year. 

· How many led to withdrawing of funding? Please break this down year by year. 

If you need any further information from me in order to deal with my request, please let me know. 

If you are encountering practical difficulties with complying with this request, please contact me as soon as possible, in line with your section 16 duty to advise and assist requesters) so that we can discuss the matter and if necessary I can modify the request.

Please can you acknowledge receipt of this request.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Response

Records held by Health and Care Jersey regarding alleged abuse of care home residents relate to concerns reported to the Adult Safeguarding Team through the ‘Safeguarding Response to Alert Form (SoJ)’, introduced in 2020. 

Annual figures for reported concerns of abuse where the location is recorded as a care home, from 2020 to 2024, are detailed in the attached table; total concerns reported and those which were allocated to a safeguarding senior for enquiry are shown. Data for 2019 are not available to report, and therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

The location of alleged abuse does not indicate that the allegation was made against the care home (but rather where the person who is alleged to have been abused is located); 

So for example, if an allegation was made that a care home resident was financially abused by an acquaintance, the location would be recorded as a care home.

Freedom of Information response 730176705 - Attachment.pdf​

With the exception of Sandybrook Nursing Home, adult residential and nursing care homes on the island are private businesses, and are not entirely or consistently funded through the Government of Jersey. As such, records are not held on withdrawal of funding, and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.  

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.​