REPORTS of abuse in care homes have risen by more than 300 in a year, figures reveal.
From 2011 to 2012, there were 1,398 alleged incidents in Essex, up from 1,045 the year before.
The largest increase concerns allegations of neglect in the county's 468 care homes, up 150 to 708.
Worryingly, reported incidents of physical abuse have risen by nearly 100 to 324, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Joanna Symons' mother, Margaret Claydon, then 93, a dementia suffer, was called a "bitch" and manhandled by staff at her £3,000-a-month care home in South Woodham Ferrers.
"Putting your parents in a home is just the most awful thing," said Ms Symons, of Woodham Walter, whose mother died last October aged 94.
"You look for the best possible place and you never think they will be abused."
The carer, Angelica Mendoza, 32, a Filipino national, was found guilty of assaulting the pensioner in her bedroom at the Windle Court Care Home in February and ordered to carry out 150 hours' unpaid work.
"The awful thing is that you don't know it's happening because when you're the family of someone who is elderly and with dementia a lot of what they say might not make sense," said Ms Symons, a retired head of careers at the University of Essex in Colchester.
"Even if they do say something you might think nothing of it, which is awful," she added.
"She was in such a nice place and you don't think it could happen. Worse still, I had no idea how long it was going on for."
Essex County Council said the increased number of allegations meant that relatives were not prepared to tolerate abuse.
A spokesman said: "Essex encourages people to share their concerns and allow us to look at those issues to see if they are safeguarding matters or need redirecting elsewhere."
The authority revealed that 299 allegations of abuse had been upheld in 2011-12, compared to 149 the previous year.
"Professionals assess the concerns to decide what actions needs to be taken," the spokesman added.
Ms Symons urged the families of care home residents to be "vigilant" and called on service providers to put patient care ahead of profit.
"They try to get away with the minimum numbers and often there is too few staff to deal with quite demanding patients," said Ms Symons, whose mother served in the Land Army during the Second World War.
"Carers in many homes do a fantastic job for such little money and if working conditions were improved I believe there would be far less abuse."
Figures also revealed that of the county's 468 care homes only 250 have been inspected since April 2012.
Ms Symons added: "Training is important but the homes need to be regularly checked."
