292,356 reports of abuse were made in care homes across England between 2023 and 2025, according to new data obtained by Legal Expert.
These new figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), reveal an 18% rise in reports over the three-year period, with 90,232 in 2023 soaring to an alarming 106,772 during 2025.
The data is supported by a wealth of news stories in recent years – for example, an 88-year-old woman in Maryport, Cumbria, died in September 2024 after developing sepsis when care home staff failed to ‘properly manage’ an ulcer on her foot.
In Slough, a person was left unfed for four days by an ‘inadequate’ care agency, with carers found to have failed to take timely action on the person’s lack of nutrition.
Incidents in South London
Meanwhile, in South London, three male carers were jailed in 2024 after being found guilty of abusing residents at a Sutton-based care home, with one worker detailing how they had seen ‘physical assaults every day’ in the facility.
Sentencing the men, the judge called the men’s actions ‘cruel’, adding that they had ‘routinely abused and humiliated’ their victims.
And earlier this year, a Croydon care home was placed in special measures following an inspection in response to concerns raised by whistleblowers.
The CQC found that a ‘pattern of missed and late care visits’ had left residents ‘at risk of neglect and harm’, with some going ‘without breakfast, water, or their medications’.
A relative told the CQC that one resident, who required assistance to use the bathroom, was told to ‘urinate in their pad’, leaving them feeling ‘degraded’. The report states:
“Leaders failed to recognise these incidents as neglect, failed to report them externally, and failed to plan solutions to protect people.”
Types of abuse reported
Various forms of abuse were reported to the CQC, and by far the most common of those proved to be ‘neglect or acts of omission’ – 52,868 such incidents were reported during the timeframe, amounting to an astonishing 18.08% of all reports over the three years.
Reports of physical abuse were also abundant, amounting to 16,264 accounts, or 5.56% of all reports between 2023-25. Meanwhile, reports of emotional abuse totalled 10,935, representing 3.74% of the three-year total.
Less numerous, but still giving cause for concern, were reports of financial abuse, of which 2,690 were logged (0.92%). Sexual abuse figures were also low by comparison, but worrying nonetheless, as 2,011 reports were made (0.69%).
NB Reports are not directly equivalent to individual cases, as the CQC can receive numerous instances of contact about the same incident.
‘A troubling picture,’ says legal expert
Patrick Mallon, senior personal injury solicitor at Legal Expert, commented:
“The figures paint a troubling picture of abuse on the rise in England’s care homes, which are supposed to provide support and living assistance to some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
“Whether emotional, physical or even financial, the damage caused by abuse can have long-lasting, potentially life-changing impact, so victims should not feel troubled by seeking accountability when a carer lets them down in the worst possible way.
“Establishing liability and obtaining justice can be an important step in a person’s journey to regaining trust and rebuilding their life, and it’s only right for us all to expect more from the care system.”
