Skip to main content

Elderly Persons (Physical Abuse)

Volume 32: debated on Thursday 25 November 1982

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will provide to health authorities and social service departments advice on the signs to look for in identifying abuse of elderly people by their relatives;(2) what instruction is given to training doctors and social workers in identifying why elderly people are physically abused by their relatives.

I do not consider that it would be appropriate for the Department to give such advice. The identification of abuse of elderly people is essentially a matter for professional judgment in the individual case. It would be for the professional bodies concerned to prescribe any special training.