It is the right of all peoplenwithin our society to be provided with the best possible care when they need it. This is especially true of vulnerable adults such as the elderly and disabled being cared for in nursing and residential homes.

The shocking revelation of incidents at Winterbourne has shown that such care is not always provided.

I work in safeguarding adults in a local council and have been involved in many meetings where the death of service users have been discussed. In some of these meetings, it has been disclosed that a charge of "criminal negligence" has been considered by the Police. The only thing that has got in the way of this is poor (or in some cases no) record keeping by the home which has meant that the Police have no written evidence to prove criminal neglect.

I would like to see the act of poor or no record keeping, in itself, to become a criminal offence. This would focus the minds of Proprietors and Managers of homes to ensure that the care their customers need is undertaken and properly recorded.