Janet Morrison, chief ­executive, Independent Age, writes:

New research from Independent Age, the charity for older people, has found that over half of British adults (52 per cent) believe that abuse and neglect in care homes for the elderly is common. Of those, many say their opinion is based on personal experience: from knowing someone in a care home (15 per cent), working in a care home (five per cent) or hearing about others’ ­experiences (25 per cent).

Our new report, ‘Shining a light on care: Helping people make better care home choices’, calls for new measures to understand the scale of

the problem. We want the Government to take responsibility for collecting core information about care homes to give earlier warnings of a home providing poor care.

Better information and ­transparency about quality of care must be made available to the public when choosing care. We also want the Department of Health to commission a social care staff survey, similar to the NHS staff survey, asking if staff would recommend the provider they work for and whether they have witnessed neglect or abuse.

Our new report also recommends that the Competition and Markets Authority conduct a full market review of the sector.

The latest figures from the care watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, show that, while the majority of care homes inspected are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, nearly 4,000 care homes in England are delivering substandard care or are struggling to improve.

We have two free advice guides available to download or order that may help people who are affected by these issues.

Anyone who needs more information about how to choose a care home for themselves, or for an older relative or friend, can order the ‘How to Find the Right Care Home’ guide for free at independent age.org/care-home-guide, or by calling the free Independent Age helpline on 08003 196789. Those who need more targeted guidance can call the helpline to arrange to speak to an expert adviser.

If you are worried about yourself or a loved one, the ‘Staying in Control When You’re Older’ leaflet can be downloaded for free at www.independentage.org/information/advice-guides-fact sheets-leaflets/staying-control-when-youre-older, or by calling the helpline, which can offer advice to those who think they are being abused or may be at risk of abuse. Please get in touch if you have any concerns.