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Abuse of elderly called 'absolute scandal'

A patient looks out a window as she takes a rest in a nursing home. File. (UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah)
A patient looks out a window as she takes a rest in a nursing home. File. (UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah) | License Photo

LONDON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Nearly 100,000 elderly and disabled people in Britain complained of abuse by caregivers last year, a government report said.

Government officials called the reports of abuse "an absolute scandal."

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About one in four cases involved financial abuse such as theft, fraud, exploitation, pressure related to wills or the misappropriation of benefits or possessions, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Britain's National Health Service said the provisional findings are based on submissions from 151 councils with adult social service responsibilities. The final report will be published next March.

About half of the abuse referrals involved adults with a physical disability, 23 percent were people with a mental health issue and 21 percent have a learning disability.

The NHS said 36 percent of cases involved physical abuse and 28 percent involved neglect.

Of the 75,000 referrals that were thoroughly investigated last year, about 32 percent of the cases were substantiated. The report said 31 percent were found to be unsubstantiated and 28 percent were ruled inconclusive.

NHS Information Center Chief Executive Tim Straughan said the provisional report "shines a light on what is clearly an emotive subject involving some of the most vulnerable people in society."

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