Vulnerable patients suffering fatal neglect despite ministers saying problem was 'unacceptable' two years ago.

Vulnerable patients are still suffering fatal neglect in care homes – with more than 1,100 residents dying from thirst in the past decade.
Government figures show 1,158 care home residents died of thirst or while suffering severe dehydration between 2003 and 2012.
In each case, dehydration was cited on the death certificate as the underlying cause of death or a contributory factor, the Office for National Statistics said.

Vulnerable patients are still suffering fatal neglect in care homes - with more than 1,100 residents dying from thirst in the past decade

The figures were condemned as an ‘utter disgrace’ by an age charity.
The death rate is still more than 100 a year on average, or two every week, despite ministers saying the problem was ‘unacceptable’ two years ago.
In one case, Norma Spear died after losing 35lb in five weeks while suffering dehydration.
A coroner found neglect by staff at a Birmingham care home contributed to the 71-year-old’s death.
Carol Clay, Mrs Spear’s daughter, said she was ‘shocked by the level of dehydration deaths’ but feared that even in another decade, ‘nothing will have changed’.
Dr Alison Cook, a director at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘How can we call ourselves civilised when people are left to starve or die of thirst? 
‘It is an utter disgrace that they are ever left without the most basic care.’
Dot Gibson, of the National Pensioners’ Convention, said members of the public would be ‘outraged if animals were treated in the same way’. 
She added: ‘We need to show the same compassion when it comes to caring for our elderly loved-ones.’

Government figures show 1,158 care home residents died of thirst or while suffering severe dehydration between 2003 and 2012

The Government promised action in 2011 after the Daily Mail revealed 667 people died of dehydration in care homes in England and Wales between 2005 and 2009.
At the time, Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat care services minister, said: ‘While there are excellent homes it is simply unacceptable that people still die undignified deaths from wholly avoidable causes.’ 
But Mr Burstow said it could take until 2015 to implement changes.
Mrs Gibson said: ‘It is not good enough for ministers or the care regulator to talk about making improvements by 2015 when, in the meantime, older people are dying from neglect.’ 
The statistics follow a report by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that found people in care homes and hospitals were ‘routinely denied privacy, inadequately fed or just ignored’.
Officials found one in three homes failed to meet any of its standards.
The commission carried out a series of unannounced visits to sites, and staff were heard dismissing elderly people as ‘lost causes’.
In the past 12 months, the CQC has issued 818 warnings to adult care services, 66 per cent more than the year before.
Norman Lamb, the care and support minister, called deaths from thirst ‘entirely unacceptable’.
He said new rules will allow the CQC to intervene ‘more effectively.