Charities concerned with the care of the elderly have warned of the frightening extent of the crisis in the care home sector.

A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows that they launched 1,512 enforcement actions against care homes and home helps in 2016/17 – nearly 70% up on the previous 12 months. The actions dealt with concerns about safety, lack of dignity in the treatment of residents by staff, poor staffing levels, lack of food or water and actual abuse of residents. More than 100 operators were struck off the CQC register, forcing them, to close down.

One case was the £2,000 a month care home in Liverpool, Mossley Manor, owned by two millionaire brothers, Amjad and Amer Latif. Acting on a tip-off from the concerned daughter of a prospective resident CQC inspectors were “appalled” to note the unkempt state of the 43 elderly residents, who had not had a bath or shower in the previous three weeks. Bedrooms were not cleaned regularly, communal toilets had no soap or hand towels and the home failed to control the risk of serious injury, which had resulted in needless hospitalisation for some residents.

Mossley Manor was closed down and the Latif brothers, who both live in homes worth more than £1 million were fined a total of £80,000, the judge branding them the operators of the “lack-of-care” home.