People have a right to expect the highest standards from our care homes. Families put their trust and faith in these organisations, and those in charge of their scrutiny, to look after the people they love in their time of need.

The case that we report this week of 82-year-old Jean Brierty is another disturbing episode in the care of elderly and vulnerable people.

Mrs Brierty only went into a home for a short stay while building work was carried out to her house.

Instead of receiving the care to which she was entitled, she ended up in hospital with kidney failure due to dehydration.

Thankfully she recovered, but her story will send a shudder down the spines of all those with relatives in care homes.

What makes this story worse is that Mrs Brierty’s family were kept in the dark about the investigation.

If the system fails, those families have a right to be told what went wrong, why it went wrong and what action has been taken.

There must be full public accountability if trust is to be restored.

This failure of the system is set against a backdrop of cuts to the county council’s adult social care budget.

The care of older people in this country must be of the highest standard, and high standards naturally demand open scrutiny.

If things go wrong then the results of investigations must be made public, or there is a twin danger that public trust will be lost and that an opportunity to learn valuable lessons will be lost.