Following a BBC report into a residential care home for adults with learning difficulties the government has said that legal protection, similar to that in place for vulnerable children, will be speeded up and should be published within a fortnight.

The government has acted following footage broadcast last week which showed some residents at Castlebeck care home in Bristol being punched, kicked, dragged along the floor and doused in cold water by their carers. It led to the Care Quality Commission apologising for failing to act on allegations about the care home from a whistleblower, Terry Bryan. He contacted the BBC after his comments were ignored by the health watchdog.

Now, health minister Paul Burstow has accepted the need for change. He said that it will be a requirement for every council with social care responsibilities to have an adult safeguarding board, which will bring social services together with the local NHS and police, though he denied that it will merely add another layer of bureaucracy.

Since the BBC Panorama programme 13 members of staff at the home have been suspended and four people have been released on police bail.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-safeguards-to-protect-adults-in-care-2293496.html