The Community and District Nursing Association (CDNA) added that at risk older people should be added to a list similar to the child protection register.

Health workers in the community often notice abuse but feel unable to report it, the union said. District judge Marilyn Mornington, patron of the CDNA, said: ‘Domestic and elder abuse are a huge problem in the UK, as in the rest of the world. It is an abuse of power and control and countless lives and human misery would be saved if the structures which the CDNA is advocating were put in place.'

CDNA chief executive Anne Duffy said: ‘At the CDNA we are coming across examples of elder abuse on a daily basis. This is unacceptable and we are calling for a register, as in child protection, and compulsory training for nurses, to help ensure that our elderly population receive the best possible care.'

The union has produced a short film on the subject called 'Caring for Those Who Care'.

nick.bostock@haymarket.com

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