Mansfield and Ashfield top the table for OAP abuse

Mansfield and Ashfield top a regional league of shame when it comes to the abuse of pensioners, alarming statistics have revealed.

Data put together by Nottinghamshire County Council has found that the two districts had more cases of abuse to over 65s than any other area of the county in the last 12 months.

This includes all pensioners, not just those living in nursing homes, and includes physical, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as financial abuse from relatives stealing money to unscrupulous cold callers persuading them to part with money.

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Across the county, there was a 5.3 per cent increase of reported abuse over 2015/16 from the previous year, and a 7.3 per cent increase in cases that needed further intervention.

Michelle Colbourne, team manager at the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), a team made up of officers from the council, police and local health groups, insists the stats are no cause for alarm, and are actually encouraging.

She said: “There’s a larger population in Mansfield and Ashfield compared to other areas, it’s not as rural as say Rushcliffe.

“It’s a positive thing and shows that professionals and family members are more aware of safeguarding and are reporting abuse - it’s not that there’s been an increase.

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“Safeguarding has become everybody’s business, and it’s something we need to address.”

Three socials workers, one full-time and two part-time are now being recruited to join the MASH team to help deal with the demand.

People who have concerns about an adult being abused should contact the county council on 0300 500 80 80.

More than 1,013 reports of abuse were made in Mansfield over 2015/2016, according to figures.

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This was top of the district list, with Ashfield in second place with 897 reports.

At the bottom end of the list is Broxtowe and Rushcliffe with 514 and 490 reports respectively.

Mansfield also topped the list of the number of complaints that had gone on to form a full inquiry.

Of the 1,013 abuse claims, 487 were investigated further, while at Ashfield, 427 were deemed to need more work.

Again, Rushcliffe had the fewest number, with 249.